Australian online watchdog drops case against X over stabbing video

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia's online safety watchdog announced Wednesday that it has dropped its Federal Court case seeking to force X Corp. to remove video of Sydney bishop stabbed.

But e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she would pursue legal action in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal against the rebranded platform in 2023 after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk took over Twitter.

Musk welcomed the decision, posting on X: “Freedom of speech is worth fighting for.”

The case before the court, which examines the administrative decisions of bureaucrats, was brought by X and was running parallel to the case before the Federal Court.

Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee, said cost was a factor in her decision to “consolidate” her commission's legal action against X.

“The real issues that I wish to examine through an independent merit review will be considered at the AAT and it made no sense to me to fight a battle on two fronts when, let's face it, the war is going be much longer and more extensive” than initially thought, Inman Grant told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Inman Grant also revealed that her legal action against of doxxing.

She blamed Musk for the attacks.

“He blew a dog whistle to 181 million users worldwide, which led to death threats against me, which led to the doxxing of my family members, including my three children,” Inman Grant said.

“So I think with great power comes great responsibility and to exercise that restraint, in terms of targeting a regulator who is there to protect Australian citizens, is really out of reach.” But that's not surprising, given that we've seen him sue, target and personally tarnish NGOs, academics and other researchers who dare criticize the security of Platform added.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland supported Inman Grant's decision to pursue X in the Federal Court and its decision to drop the case.

“The government supports our regulators and we support the e-security commissioner, particularly in light of the reprehensible threats to her physical safety and threats to her family in the course of her work,” Rowland told parliament.

X was the only social media platform to refuse Esafety's order to remove the video of a 16 -year -old girl stabbing an Assyrian Orthodox bishop in a church in Sydney on April 15 while a service was broadcast online.

While Meta, Microsoft, Google, Snap, TikTok, Reddit and Telegram removed the video, X would only go so far as to geoblock X's Australian users.

The commission went to the Australian Federal Court to impose a blanket ban on sharing the video.

Musk used his personal X account to accuse Australia of interfering with free speech and to ridicule Inman Grant as “Australia's censorship commissioner.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Musk an “arrogant billionaire” who considered himself above the law and was out of touch with the public.

But eSafety suffered a loss in court on May 13 when a judge withdrew an injunction requiring the San Francisco-based company to hide content globally. Judge Geoffrey Kennett ruled that the global ban was not a reasonable requirement to impose on the platform.

“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,” abandonment of the case.

Inman Grant said his commission had five other lawsuits against X, including over the platform's failure to disclose how it was combatting child sexual abuse material.