Image: 20-year-old Ben Cohen, who was wrongly identified by Seven as the Bondi Junction mass murderer.
The university student wrongly identified as the Bondi Junction attacker by Channel 7 has settled his legal dispute with the network for an undisclosed sum.
On Sunday, April 14, the morning after 6 people were murdered in the shopping centre, 20-year-old Ben Cohen was named on Seven’s Sunrise as the mass murderer.
Cohen’s name was broadcast at 6:05am then again at 6:15am. He was described by Seven as a “40-year-old lone-wolf attacker” until NSW Police officially identified Joel Cauchi, several hours later.
The network only realised their error when Cohen’s mother rang the newsroom.
Cohen’s identity first appeared on X on Saturday evening, the day of the mass murders, with about 50,000 posts naming him as the unconfirmed killer. Many posts drew attention to his Jewish identity.
A statement from Cohen said: “Users who abuse a platform to target individuals or communities should be held accountable for the consequences of their actions, and platforms should be more accountable for the content they host.”
Cohen had engaged a high-profile legal team to threaten defamation action against the network and seek damages. A concerns notice was sent to Seven on Wednesday, a compulsory first step before filing a claim in court.
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