Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Apu Gomez | Getty Images
Australia announced on Wednesday that it had dropped legal proceedings against Elon Musk X and removed footage of the Sydney church stabbing incident from social media platforms.
The dispute is widely seen as a test of the Australian government’s ability to enforce online safety standards among social media giants.
Julie Inman-Grant, Commissioner of the Australian Cybersecurity Regulatory Agency explain In a statement, she said after “multiple considerations” her decision to end the proceedings “is likely to result in the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children”.
“Our sole aim and focus in issuing the takedown notice was to prevent this extremely violent video from going viral, which could incite further violence and cause more harm to the Australian community. I stand by my investigators and eSafety.” decision,” Inman-Grant said, referring to Australia’s independent online safety regulator.
X’s global government affairs team welcomed the news, saying in a post that the company was “pleased to see freedom of expression prevailing.”
Musk also said: “Freedom of speech is worth fighting for.” release Shortly after the announcement, on X day.
Bishop Mar Marie Emmanuel stabbed During a live-streamed sermon in Sydney in mid-April, the sermon was widely shared online and viewed hundreds of thousands of times. He survived the incident.
The attack was declared a terrorist incident by police and Australia’s Electronic Security Commissioner was appointed temporary legal injunction Command X hides the post showing the snippet.
Musk challenged the earlier court order, arguing it was an attack on free speech.
Musk’s social media platform received a reprieve in Australia last month when a court refused to extend an interim order blocking a video of the Sydney church stabbing globally.
war of words
The legal dispute has sparked a war of words between senior Australian officials and Musk.
in a interview In late April, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Musk an “arrogant billionaire” who believed he was above Australian law.
Mentioning Albanese, Musk responded Regarding X: “I don’t think I’m above the law. Does the Prime Minister think he should have jurisdiction over the entire planet?”
He added, “This platform abides by the laws of these countries, but it is inappropriate to extend the rulings of one country to other countries.”
Musk also describe Electronic Safety Commissioner Inman-Grant was appointed as a “censorship committee” to work on a global ban on the image.
inman grant told ABC News Musk’s attack on her led to an online siege from his millions of fans, as well as death threats and the exposure of personal information about her children online.
—CNBC’s Sumathi Bala contributed to this report.
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