13-5-2024 (SYDNEY) An Australian court on May 13 rebuffed the nation’s cyber safety regulator’s bid to extend a temporary order compelling Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, to block videos depicting the stabbing of an Assyrian church bishop, an incident authorities have classified as a terrorist attack.
Federal Court Judge Geoffrey Kennett swiftly rejected the application to extend the injunction granted in April, stating that the reasons for the judgement would be released at a later date. The matter has been scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday.
The legal tussle has ignited heated exchanges between Musk and senior Australian officials, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who labelled Musk “an arrogant billionaire” for his objections to removing the video. Musk, in turn, has posted memes criticising the regulatory order, describing it as censorship.
Other platforms, such as Meta, swiftly complied with requests to remove the content.
In April, the Federal Court, Australia’s second-highest court, upheld an order by the eSafety Commissioner, instructing X to take down 65 posts containing footage of the bishop being stabbed mid-sermon in Sydney on April 15, citing the explicit nature of the violence. A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offence for the alleged attack.
While Australian users have been blocked from viewing the posts, X has refused to remove them globally, arguing that one country’s rules should not govern the internet.
The regulator argued in court last week that geo-blocking Australians, the solution offered by X, was ineffective, as a quarter of the population utilises virtual private networks (VPNs) to disguise their locations.
Last week, Albanese’s centre-left government announced plans for a parliamentary inquiry to investigate the negative impacts of social media, citing significant control over what Australians see online with almost no scrutiny.
