Australia drops legal case against X over church stabbing video

Brisbane, Australia
CNN
—

Australia's e-Safety Commissioner has abandoned her legal bid to force Elon Musk's social media site X to hide violent video of a Sydney church stabbing from users around the world.

Julie Inman Grant had sought a Federal Court ruling after X failed to fully comply with a takedown order issued under the country's Online Safety Act following the April incident.

Instead, Inman Grant said on Wednesday it would “consolidate action” over the revocation notice at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), an independent review process which reviews decisions made by the commissioner.

“After weighing several considerations, including litigation in several cases, I considered that this option was likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, particularly children,” he said. she declared in a press release.

The Electronic Security Commissioner wanted X to hide the video from users beyond Australia's borders. Musk criticized the request, calling it an overreach by an unelected official that could set a precedent for other countries to demand the deletion of sensitive documents.

“Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content from ALL countries, which is what Australia's 'electronic security commissioner' is calling for, then what is to stop one country from controlling all of the Internet?” Musk posted to X in April.

In a statement, X hailed the latest development as a victory for freedom of expression.

“This case has raised important questions about how legal powers can be used to threaten global censorship of speech, and we are heartened to see that freedom of expression has prevailed,” he said .

Joanne Gray, a lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney, said the decision to drop the case was “rational” for a public institution with limited resources. But she added that the question of Australia's jurisdiction over online content remains unanswered.

“[Musk] I could claim that this is a victory for free speech, but I don't think that's really what it is. Rather, this is a corporate victory and says more about the ability of platform companies to operate outside the reach of governments,” Gray said.

She said the end of the legal action demonstrated the need for a comprehensive approach to online regulation, adding that “it is difficult for Australia to resolve these issues when it acts alone.”

The controversial video shows the moment Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed, allegedly by a 16-year-old attacker, while delivering a sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Sydney's west. The incident sparked a riot outside the church that authorities say was fueled by the rapid spread of the video online.

However, in court filings, X's lawyers argued that the company removed some URLs seen by Australian audiences, but the video was easily accessible on other sites.

“The video is, and at all material times has been, widely available to people in Australia other than on the X platform, including in its full form on other social media services and various websites,” documents state judicial.

Musk's lawyers also said the commissioner failed to take into account that the video was shared with the bishop's consent, not by his attacker. The Assyrian Orthodox cleric was cited in court filings as supporting the release of the video as an exercise in free speech.

“Considering that God has given us the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, I am not opposed to [the video] remaining on social media,” the bishop said, according to court documents.

In her statement on Wednesday, Inman Grant defended her decision to pursue the case, which she said had given the agency an opportunity to test its “new regulatory powers… to protect Australians from harm online” .

“Our sole aim and purpose in issuing our removal notice was to prevent these extremely violent images from going viral, which could incite further violence and cause further harm to the Australian community. I support my investigators and the decisions made by eSafety,” the statement said.

Inman Grant told Australian national broadcaster ABC that she had been the subject of personal attacks, including death threats, from Elon Musk's supporters.

“Targeting a regulator who is there to protect Australian citizens is really out of character, but it's not surprising,” she reportedly told the ABC.

X, formerly known as Twitter, is the subject of constant monitoring concerning the dissemination of controversial content on the platform, in particular hate speech and conspiracy theories, since its acquisition by Musk in 2022.

Last month, the platform appointed a new head of security, nine months after its previous head of security resigned after just seven months in the role.