Australia

Elon Musk's X will no longer be forced to remove videos of Wakeley church stabbing

Australia's online safety regulator has been dealt a loss in its battle with the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X over video of a stabbing during a live-streamed sermon.

A man pointing his finger

Elon Musk was characterised by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as an "arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law, but also above common decency", after the former refused to remove videos of the Wakeley church stabbing from X servers worldwide. Source: DPA / Patrick Pleul

The top line: The eSafety Commissioner had sought a temporary injunction ordering X, formerly Twitter, to block 65 websites containing a clip of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being attacked until Justice Geoffrey Kennett determined whether the social media platform breached any laws. An order was made and extended in April, but Justice Kennett on Monday rejected an application to extend the injunction further before a hearing in the Federal Court on Wednesday.

The bigger picture: The knife attack was declared a terrorist incident and several teenagers have since faced court charged with related offences, including the alleged attacker.

The key quote: The commissioner's barrister Tim Begbie KC said X's policies permitted it to take posts down globally and it did so when it suited.

"Global removal is reasonable when X does it because X wants to do it, but it becomes unreasonable when X is told to do it by the laws of Australia," he said, characterising the company's position.

What else to know: While the company blocked Australian users from viewing the clip, the court heard virtual private networks (VPNs) had allowed users to circumvent geographic restrictions and view the material anyway.

Read more: 'Friggin' disgrace': From a court battle to a boycott call, this is Elon Musk's feud with Australia


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP




Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world