Anti-Israeli presenter challenged ABC social media ban

February 4, 2025 12:33 | News

A suggestion from ABC management that a journalist refrain from posting on social media after a barrage of complaints over her criticism of Israel has been described as strange and unfair.

Antoinette Lattouf was hired on a casual basis to present the Mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney over five days in December 2023.

The freelance journalist, who is of Lebanese and Arab descent, stepped back into the witness box on the second day of a Federal Court hearing in her case against the public broadcaster on Tuesday.

Former ABC journalist Antoinette Lattouf
“I don’t think it’s fair that I don’t post:” Antoinette Lattouf recalls telling an ABC manager. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

She recounted a phone call she had with ABC Radio Sydney content director Elizabeth Green two days before she was let go.

Ms Green allegedly described the ABC receiving a flood of complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists about the decision to put Lattouf on air.

“I said ‘If the sky was blue, they’d probably have a problem with it’,” Lattouf told the court.

“(Green) said ‘Yes I agree, it’s angering me that I have to have this conversation’.”

Lattouf said she then pushed back on a suggestion that she keep a low profile on social media and perhaps refrain from posting anything during her stint with the ABC.

“I said ‘I don’t think it’s fair that I don’t post’,” she told the court.

If a journalist was killed in Gaza, she would post about it because it was a fact and a tragedy, the court was told.

Under questioning by ABC barrister Ian Neil SC, Lattouf said Green eventually agreed she could post facts from reputable sources but conjecture or misinformation was off the table.

The presenter was dismissed after sharing a post from Human Rights Watch reporting that Israel had used starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.

The ABC had published two articles on the topic in the days before.

A key issue in the case is whether the ABC gave Lattouf a direction not to post anything on social media.

The public broadcaster is defending the case, saying that the freelance journalist was let go after breaching this direction as well as its editorial policies.

From the witness box, Lattouf denied being given any orders, saying Ms Green had offered a suggestion they then discussed in their conversation.

Former ABC journalist Antoinette Lattouf (centre)
Antoinette Lattouf challenged what she thought was arbitrary use of the ABC’s social media policies. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

She said she had pushed back against what she saw as an arbitrary use of the ABC’s social media policy.

“I’ve been a journalist long enough to know that it’s a bit strange just to pick and choose which presenters can share facts about what topics,” Lattouf said.

She said she was in shock and trying to get clarity after her dismissal because the ABC did not tell her how she allegedly breached the policy.

Lattouf says she was unfairly dismissed because of her political opinion and race.

The hearing continues.

AAP News

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