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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/18/far-right-influencers-homophobic-attacks-dating-apps-investigation-ntwnfb>
"The role of “far-right manosphere influencers” in fuelling homophobic attacks
where victims were lured through fake dating app profiles before being
assaulted will be investigated by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry.
Aiv Puglielli, the Greens’ equality spokesperson, on Wednesday moved a motion
calling on the upper house’s legal and social issues committee to investigate
the scale of such crimes, as well as the state’s current response and support
available to victims.
It follows what Puglielli described as a “disturbing” and “terrifying” series
of attacks targeting gay and bisexual men across several states and territories
since 2024. In some instances, videos of the attacks have been recorded and
posted on social media.
As of October 2024, 35 people had been arrested in relation to such incidents,
Victoria police confirmed in a statement to Guardian Australia.
Police said the alleged offenders – most aged between 13 and 20 – had used fake
profiles on dating apps to lure their victims.
“The victims are then allegedly assaulted, robbed, threatened and subjected to
homophobic comments,” a police spokesperson said.
“There is absolutely no place for this type of concerning behaviour in our
society.”
In the past year,
Guardian Australia has reported on attacks on men organised
through dating apps, with Victoria police confirming that anti-LGBTQ+
influencers had been promoting “methods of attack” online.
During the June 2025 sentencing of a 19-year-old Victorian man who met and
assaulted two people after speaking to them on the gay dating app Grindr, the
court heard he admitted to police he had been inspired by vigilante-style
videos he had seen on TikTok.
Puglielli said the inquiry would examine how influencers sharing far-right,
misogynistic and homophobic “alpha male” content operate online, and how to
protect young people from their messaging.
He alleged some perpetrators, often very young men, had been “groomed and
radicalised by far-right manosphere influencers”.
“This is dark-corner-of-the-internet stuff, largely going on in the shadows,”
Puglielli said.
“We really have to get to the bottom of these issues. How are people being
radicalised? What type of content are they consuming that eventually leads them
to commit these terrible acts?”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
