Australia watchdog drops case against Elon Musk's X
Australian watchdog, eSafety, was involved in legal battle with owner of X over graphic videos of church stabbing
June 05, 2024
Australia has backed out of a legal battle with Elon Musk to have graphic footage of a church stabbing in Sydney removed from his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the BBC reported.
The graphic videos that were circulated widely on X and other social media platforms showed the live-streamed attack on bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April which was declared a terror incident by police.
Australia's eSafety Commissioner, an independent regulator, threatened X and other social media companies with hefty fines if the videos of the stabbing were not removed amid concern it could incite further violence.
The case was seen as a test of Australia's ability to enforce its online safety rules on the social media giants.
The Federal Court had temporarily ordered X to hide the videos but it refused to comply saying the order was not valid.
Although X eventually blocked access to the video in Australia, users could still access it by using a virtual private network (VPN).
Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant, who once worked for Twitter, then asked for the video to be removed globally, after which Musk called her a "censorship commissar".
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded by calling Musk an "arrogant billionaire".
In a statement on Wednesday, Inman-Grant said owing to "multiple considerations", dropping the case was "likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children".
She added that she stood by the decisions the eSafety Commission had made.
X had previously argued the commission's orders were "unlawful and dangerous".
"Global takedown orders go against the very principles of a free and open internet and threaten free speech everywhere," it stated. "This was a tragic event and we do not allow people to praise it or call for further violence."
Inman-Grant has previously revealed that Musk's attention resulted in death threats and her children’s personal information being exposed online from millions of followers.
