Federal Court goes X’s way in eSafety Commission’s battle on Wakeley stabbing

Elon Musk has replied to the Federal Court decision not to extend a temporary order for social media company X to hide videos of a terrorist stabbing globally. 

Social media company X will no longer be forced to hide tweets containing footage from the Wakeley church stabbing globally Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Social media company X will no longer be forced to hide tweets containing footage from the Wakeley church stabbing globally after the federal court on Monday refused to extend an injunction over dozens of tweets.

In the aftermath of the April 15 alleged terror attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, X was ordered to remove access to the video for Australian users after the footage was slapped with a Class 1 classification under the Online Safety Act.

The injunction was due to expire on Monday unless the court extended the court order, but Justice Geoffrey Kennett refused the application.

In a post after the decision, X owner Elon Musk said he was not trying to “win anything” by resisting the eSafety Commissioner push for censorship.

“(I’m) not trying to win anything. I just don’t think we should be suppressing Australian’s rights to free speech,” Musk said in response to a post from The Australian.

X chief executive Elon Musk says he was standing up for free speech by challenging the order. Picture: NCA NewsWire / AFP / Leon Neal

Not trying to win anything. I just don’t think we should be suppressing Australian’s rights to free speech.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2024

The company agreed to “geoblock” the content and reduced its visibility in Australia in the days after the stabbing, but at least 65 instances of the footage have been allowed to remain online, and Australian users can still access the video via a VPN.

Musk had threatened to sue in response, but eSafety acted first – winning a temporary injunction to force X to hide the videos on April 22 that the company did not comply with.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant sought to extend the injunction against X. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The battle centres around footage of the alleged terrorist attack at a Wakeley church Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Justice Kennett’s reasons for rejecting the extension of the injunction will likely be published later on Monday.

In a hearing for the injunction on Friday, X’s barrister Bret Walker SC told the court the wording of the order to hide the tweets was not something X could technically comply with.

Lawyers for the company have argued the video should never have been the subject of a removal notice because it was not overly graphic, did not glorify terrorism, and did not meet the legal threshold for removal under Australian law.

The online watchdog, meanwhile, had been worried the video could be used to radicalise people online.

Tim Begbie KC, representing eSafety, told the court on Friday the material posted online showed ““actual graphic and shocking moments of that attacker (allegedly) repeatedly and violently stabbing” the bishop.

The case returns to court on Wednesday.

Originally published as Federal Court goes X’s way in eSafety Commission’s battle on Wakeley stabbing