Mainstream platforms are fighting to distribute and monetise “gore” and “fringe” content, the eSafety watchdog has told the antisemitism royal commission.

Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, on Thursday singled out X, telling the inquiry her office has to fight its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, to try to keep footage – including some posted of the Bondi terror attack – restricted or off the platform.

Social media platforms are spending more to challenge regulation while spending less on trust and safety teams, she said, and they feel protected by the anti-regulation Trump administration.

Inman Grant detailed various complexities the commission has faced when attempting to have websites – including paedophile and suicide-incitement sites – taken down, and when having footage of the Christchurch massacre removed.

She said X pushed back about Australians’ access to the Charlie Kirk assassination video, the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train, and the church stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Wakeley, New South Wales.

She said eSafety “fought hard” to get footage of the Bondi attack “refused classification”, making it illegal to distribute in Australia.

But X told her “it’s not any worse than you would see in a gore movie”.

“And I said: ‘I can’t think of anything more horrific for the family members and the Australian Jewish community’,” she said.

“So we fought really hard and we were able to get them to agree to keep that refused classification.

“But these are mainstream platforms fighting for the right and the ability to distribute and monetise gore and fringe content.”

Of the eight cases the regulator is now fighting with X, six have been instigated by X, she said.

The ongoing third block of hearings for the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is focusing on the role of social media and traditional media.

Inman Grant said antisemitism and hate speech were not explicitly covered in the eSafety commissioner’s mandate, which covers cyberbullying, adult cyber-abuse, image-based abuse and illegal and restricted online content.

Just 2% of the complaints about adult cyber-abuse made to her office meet the high threshold for action, she said, because of freedom of speech protections.

But she said the cumulative harm of online abuse should be considered.

“I just imagine that so many in the Jewish community are experiencing antisemitism, racism on a daily basis. And all of that has a cumulative impact on one’s mental health and wellbeing,” she said.

She contrasted the powers to tackle adult cyber-abuse with how they handle cyberbullying cases, citing a South Australian case in which a 14-year-old girl was asked on a date by a boy. When she said no, six of his friends sent her a “barrage of death and rape threats”.

In that case, the eSafety commissioner contacted the school and the parents and sent them an end user notice, which asked for proof all the content was deleted, and for a pledge not to engage in that conduct again.

The commissioner can take further enforcement action if the end user notice is not complied with.

But the adult scheme is not fit for purpose, Inman Grant said, and responsibility should be put back on the platforms, potentially with an online hate code.

“We know they could roll that out tomorrow,” she said, but said they were “playing a game of whack-a-mole”.

“They’re monetising … the pain and suffering of other people.

Their sophisticated ability to target users with “deadly precision” through algorithms, she said, showed they have the ability to stop it.

Police from various jurisdictions described their interactions with the eSafety commissioner at the hearing on Thursday.

The Western Australian police deputy commissioner Kylie Whiteley said there had been delays finalising a memorandum of understanding with eSafety. She said the public was often confused about whether to make complaints to eSafety, Scamwatch or platforms.

The Australian federal police assistant commissioner Stephen Nutt said the force and the regulator were working on better protocols for coordination but that it was a “very good relationship”.

The New South Wales police assistant commissioner Leanne McCusker said if something was “occurring live” it would be useful to contact both eSafety and the National Situation Room at the same time to ensure there were no barriers in future.

The Jewish Council of Australia executive director, Sarah Schwartz, earlier described how progressive Jewish people were targeted by a “constellation” of neo-Nazis and pro-Israel advocates.

She told the inquiry that after referring abuse to Victoria police, the police took out a personal safety intervention order to protect her, which she only found out about when contacted by a journalist from The Australian.

The next day, the newspaper ran a story suggesting it was an attempt to suppress free speech.

“What was most distressing to me is that The Australian chose to republish some of the offensive imagery that was the basis on which police applied for the [order],” she said.

She said that it became clear to her that, although police were “doing their very best”, she had to withdraw the intervention order because it was going to make her less safe.

Guardian Australia has contacted The Australian.

• In Australia, support is available at Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14, and at MensLine on 1300 789 978. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, call or text Mental Health America at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org