Bullet fragments were still lodged in Arsen Ostrovsky's head from his brush with death when he first saw fake images circling on social media that accused him of being a crisis actor.
The lawyer was among the dozens of people injured at Bondi Beach when two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday night, killing 15 people.
A bullet had grazed his head, opening a wound that led to his skull.
Bystanders rushed to stem the bleeding, but before Ostrovsky had even left the hospital, his likeness began cropping up all over the internet.
Artificial intelligence-generated images appeared to show him having make-up applied while surrounded by a film crew, while another post had been manipulated to remove his bandages and suggest his wound was fake.
"I saw those pictures as I was being wheeled into the operating theatre to remove bullet fragments," he told reporters after returning to the scene of the massacre on Thursday.
"I'm not dignifying these sick, twisted campaigns of hate and lies with a response."
But Ostrovsky added social media companies had an "incredible onus" to stamp out hate on their platforms.
"These are not mere words ... when words and hatred are left untouched, it leads to violence," he said.
"We saw the manifestation of that on Sunday."
A man who shared the same name as one of the shooters also spoke out on social media after posts that wrongly identified him as the gunman.
The night of the shooting, Ostrovsky and his family were celebrating the first day of Hanukkah with the local community.
He had just stepped aside to grab some food when the shots rang out.
Masses of people began rushing out of the area as chaos reigned.
Ostrovsky started running towards his wife and kids, who were about 30m away, when he fell to the ground screaming.
"Blood started gushing everywhere," he said.
"I put my hand on my head. I almost felt my bone.
"The doctors said it was a miracle. I was millimetres away from life and death."
By the end of the night, 15 people had been fatally wounded, while several more remain in hospital fighting for their lives.
Ostrovsky and his family escaped, and he said they had received incredible support from the community in the intervening days.
NSW Premier Chris Minns, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Knesset called the survivor to offer their condolences and help.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was yet to get in contact, Ostrovsky added.
He welcomed newly announced federal reforms to crack down on those who promote violence and hate, but added the measure was needed long ago.
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