Australia has decided to abandon its legal battle to remove graphic footage of a church stabbing in Sydney from Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. The attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April, which police declared a terror incident, was livestreamed online and subsequently led to riots outside the church.
The eSafety Commissioner of Australia, an independent regulator, had threatened X and other social media companies with substantial fines if they did not take down videos of the stabbing, citing concerns that the footage could incite further violence. This case was viewed as a crucial test of Australia’s ability to enforce its online safety regulations on global social media platforms.
The Federal Court had initially ordered X to hide the videos, but the platform refused, arguing that the order was not valid. Although X eventually blocked access to the video in Australia, users could still access it by using a VPN.
Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant, who previously worked for Twitter, had called for the video to be removed globally. This led to Elon Musk labeling her a “censorship commissar,” while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese referred to Musk as an “arrogant billionaire.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Inman-Grant explained that due to “multiple considerations,” dropping the case was “likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children.”
“Our sole goal and focus in issuing our removal notice was to prevent this extremely violent footage from going viral, potentially inciting further violence and inflicting more harm on the Australian community,” she said. She added that she stood by the decisions made by the eSafety Commission.
X had previously argued that the commission’s orders were “unlawful and dangerous,” claiming that “global takedown orders go against the very principles of a free and open internet and threaten free speech everywhere.” The platform emphasized that while it considered the event tragic, it does not allow content that praises the attack or calls for further violence.
Inman-Grant has also revealed that Musk’s attention resulted in a backlash from his followers, which included death threats and the exposure of her children’s personal information online.
