Threats of political violence soar in Australia’s ‘online echo chamber’

Sydney – Australia’s security chiefs had warned of “online echo chambers” fueling grievances and conspiracies and stepped up prosecutions for threats of political violence ahead of Monday’s attack on a lawmaker in a rural town. Independent lawmaker Helen Haines, 65, underwent surgery overnight but remains in critical condition after being struck deliberately by a car in an attack that “does shake all of us,“ Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday. National broadcaster ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald reported she had lost a leg.