Australian authorities have dropped legal proceedings against X over footage of a stabbing in Sydney.
An attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley in April 2024 - which was declared a terror incident by local police - turned into a riot after it was live-streamed on the site owned by Elon Musk.
In light of this, the country’s eSafety Commissioner - an independent regulator - sought legal action against X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media companies that refuse to take down content related to the incident.
Many believed the effort was a way to see how Australia could deliver its online safety rules regarding social media. The Federal Court issued an order for X to hide the videos, but it did not, as it argued it was not legal.
Later, X did remove the content for Australian-based users. However, it was still accessible via VPNs. In response, Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant, an ex-Twitter employee, requested for it be removed internationally, which led Elon to dub her a “censorship commissar”.
Anthony Albanese, the country’s Prime Minister, got involved and called the 52-year-old business tycoon an “arrogant billionaire”.
In a recent statement, Julie said that they were forgoing the case because of “multiple considerations” and that letting it go was "likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children".
She continued: "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.”
X’s Global Government Affairs team shared they were “heartened to see that freedom of speech has prevailed” after hearing the news.
