Australia’s spy chief has warned anti-immigration rallies are being exploited by neo-Nazi groups and “Russian operatives” to sow discord, as the country faces a trend seen across Western democracies of declining trust and rising disinformation.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s director-general of security, Mike Burgess, said on Tuesday community cohesion is under attack in an unprecedented way.

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ASIO is investigating pro-Russian social media influencers who are working with an offshore media organisation to condemn Australia’s support for Kyiv, while also using “social media to spread vitriolic, polarising commentary on anti-immigration protests and pro-Palestinian marches”, he said.

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Australia in August expelled Iran’s ambassador and said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had directed two anti-Semitic attacks in Australia by using intermediaries.

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Such efforts were achieving “limited traction”, he added, pointing to the stabilising impact of Australia’s social-welfare safety net, compulsory voting and growing economy.

While social media algorithms are accelerating extremism and raising the risk of violence, it is people who create the content and decide to act on it, Burgess said.

“I worry we risk creating real world ‘aggro-rhythms’ where grievance, intolerance, polarisation and rhetoric feed on themselves,” he said.

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