The role of “far-right manosphere influencers” in fuelling homophobic attacks where victims were lured through fake dating app profiles before being assaulted is set to be investigated by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry.
Aiv Puglielli, the Greens’ equality spokesperson, will on Wednesday move 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.
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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?”
Puglielli said such online networks were growing “quicker than our laws seem to be able to keep up”.
“As a queer person and as a member of parliament, I don’t have all the answers,” he said. “But complexity can’t be an excuse to ignore the problem.”
Puglielli said it was his expectation that dating apps would be called to appear before the inquiry, alongside policymakers and police.
He added that the inquiry could make recommendations to the commonwealth if matters fall outside the state’s jurisdiction.
The motion is expected to pass with support from MPs from the Legalise Cannabis and Animal Justice parties, as well as the Labor government. Guardian Australia understands negotiations were continuing between the Greens and Labor over the final wording of the inquiry’s terms of reference on Tuesday night.
Under the Greens’ proposed terms of reference, the committee would be required to report by 1 September, giving the government enough time to respond before the caretaker period ahead of the November state election.
The equality minister, Vicki Ward, said the government supported the inquiry and considered any violence or hatred towards LGBTIQA+ people unacceptable.
“Hate crimes cause real harm and fear. No one should ever be targeted for who they are or who they love,” Ward said.
“We will continue to use every lever available to prevent and respond to this violence and ensure all Victorians can live safely, wholly and freely. I look forward to the learnings that come from this inquiry.”
Ward said the government had strengthened anti-vilification and bail laws and had criminalised “posting and boasting”, while LGBTIQA+ community members also met with the premier’s anti-hate taskforce last year.
Police stressed that reporting incidents to a dating app was “not the same as reporting to police” and encouraged any victims to come forward.
“We want victims to know it is never too late to make a report – so when you’re ready, please speak to us,” their spokesperson said.
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