In Sydney, a man kills six people, five of whom are women. However, the police see no signs of an ideological undertone.

Remembering the victims in Sydney Photo: Alasdair Pal/Reuters

When a shot is fired somewhere in the world, within a minute someone on social media usually knows who shot who and for what reason. The same thing happened after the deadly attack in Sydney over the weekend, in which a man killed six people with a knife.

In the hours after the attack, a photo of the alleged perpetrator went viral on X, formerly Twitter. Users speculated that he came from the “Middle East” and was a jihadist. Shortly after, the identity of the falsely accused man was made public: a Jewish professor of Middle Eastern Studies. His name and photo went viral. But he had nothing to do with the perpetrator. It was a hoax.

Cautious moderation has no reward on X, Instagram and Co. On the other hand, wild speculation and anti-Semitic speculation. That is why it is not unusual for dozens of theories to spread online shortly after public crimes. The sensational media also likes to join in. It is the task of journalism not to join this murmur, but to report what is true and clarify what is not clear. This is part of journalistic due diligence.

At the same time, this necessary moderation must not lead to naivety and a misunderstanding of social problems. This is particularly true on issues where security authorities and the judiciary still have blind spots.

The authorities' statements are confusing

Five of the six victims murdered by a 40-year-old Australian in a shopping center near the famous Bondi Beach were women. The only male victim was a security guard who tried to stop the attacker. Most of the 12 injured are also women.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said surveillance cameras at the shopping center showed the man chasing mainly women with his long knife. She told ABC television: “It is obvious to me and investigators that the perpetrator targeted women and avoided men. It is pleasing that the police communicate this so clearly.”

But the following statements from the authorities are irritating. Webb says the perpetrator has a long history of mental health problems and there is no evidence of an ideological motive. And what's more: terrorist antecedents are ruled out.

But how can one recognize a selective murder of women and at the same time rule out an ideological motive? Behind such a statement there is ignorance or an intentional look the other way. At least it makes invisible the danger that women face every day: because misogyny is not an isolated phenomenon, but a structure that crosses all areas of society.

Femicide as terror

Last December, for the first time in Canada, a femicide was sentenced to life in prison for terrorism. The then-17-year-old killed employee Ashley Arzaga, 24, and injured two other people outside a massage parlor in Toronto four years ago. At the time of the crime there was a paper in his pocket that advocated violence against women.

The court considered this the act of an “incel.” Behind the word, short for “involuntary celibacy,” lies a misogynistic ideology according to which men see themselves as victims who are denied a supposed right to sex.

The fact that this form of gender violence has been classified as terrorism in Canada is new. An important sign for everyone, it was said then. But until now the effect of the signal has been slow to arrive. This is also demonstrated by the way the case was handled in Bondi Beach.

Generate public pressure

The Sydney attacker's father said in an interview with Australian media that his son was “desperate to find a girlfriend.” This has nothing to do with the motive of the crime, but it should not be ruled out either.

Therefore, the media should not simply accept statements from authorities without questioning them, especially when the investigation, as in the current Sydney case, has not yet concluded. Pointing out possible political motives can also generate public pressure, forcing authorities to investigate them. Reasoned reference to the social context of crimes and awareness of this are also part of the duty of journalistic diligence.