Bishop supports Elon Musk’s push to publish attack video: court

Lawyers for Elon Musk’s X say the bishop who was allegedly stabbed in a Sydney church “strongly” opposes the video being removed from online, a court has heard.

The bishop who was stabbed during a live sermon “strongly” supports the video of the alleged attack remaining online, lawyers for Elon Musk’s X have told a court.

The technology company, formerly known as Twitter, is embroiled in a legal stoush with the eSafety commissioner over graphic videos of the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a sermon.

On Monday, the eSafety commissioner was granted a two-day interim legal injunction to force X to hide any posts showing the footage.

The orders required the material to be pulled down within 24 hours.

With that order due to expire at 5pm on Wednesday, the parties returned to the Federal Court on Wednesday afternoon when Justice Geoffrey Kennett granted the eSafety commissioner an extension on the temporary orders.

The matter will now be decided at a hearing in two weeks.

Elon Musk’s X is opposing pushes to order the social media company to take down the videos. Photo: Etienne Laurent/AFP.

Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant ordered X and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to remove footage of the stabbing of Bishop Emmanuel at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley last week.

Musk’s X objected, vowing to fight the order, claiming restricting the visibility of the footage – or geoblocking – to people in Australia was sufficient.

Barrister Christopher Tran, acting for the eSafety commissioner, told the court there was evidence the court’s previous orders had not been complied with.

However, he said he was not seeking to press any alleged breaches.

Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

“The consequences of any alleged noncompliance are for another day,” Mr Tran said.

Barrister, Marcus Hoyne, appearing for X, told the court that the tech giant was seeking to brief prominent barrister Bret Walker SC.

Mr Hoyne said the court would need to grapple with significant legal issues considering the breadth of the orders sought.

“There are significant legal issues that your honour needs to grapple with in the context of the exorbitant jurisdiction that’s been sought to be exercised here, in terms of the injunctions that effectively operate throughout the whole world,” Mr Hoyne told the court.

“I’m not dealing with the political or media issues here, I’m dealing strictly with the legal issues.”

He said X had obtained an affidavit from Bishop Emmanuel in support of their case.

“One affidavit, which has just become available and we’ve filed, is the affidavit from the bishop, the victim of the attack, stating that he’s strongly of the view that the material should be available,” Mr Hoyne said.

Justice Kennett agreed to extend the interim ordering X to hide the material until May 10, when the matter will return to court.