This was published 8 months ago
Musk’s X ignores Australia’s legal threats to take down ‘distressing’ stabbing content
By Paul Sakkal
Elon Musk’s social media platform X is still allowing users to upload and share distressing content from Sydney’s stabbing attacks days after the platform was ordered to take it down and despite the eSafety commissioner’s threats of fines and legal action.
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was joined by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in his vow to use “whatever actions necessary to haul these companies into line”, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she was mulling legal action to force X to remove confronting videos in a process that had been “unnecessarily prolonged”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese greets Lindsay Fox and his wife Paula before a tour of a new cancer centre in Melbourne on Friday.Credit: AAP
A previous attempt to bring Musk’s platform to heel was unsuccessful and led to several months of legal dispute as the company ignored fines and refused to provide information.
Political pressure on the tech giants continued to build on Friday, after NSW Premier Chris Minns earlier this week blamed a “wildfire” of misinformation about the stabbings for fuelling social tension.
As reported in this masthead, the federal government has strengthened its resolve to take on foreign-owned companies through anti-misinformation laws and new policies to force digital platforms to fund local journalism.
Albanese said his government was “prepared to take whatever action is necessary to haul these companies into line”.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“But the social media companies that make a lot of money out of their business have a social responsibility,” he said at a press conference in Melbourne on Friday.
“And I want to see social media companies start to understand the social responsibility that they have to others as well, because that’s where they get their social licence.”
Inman Grant earlier this week used her legal powers to demand X/Twitter and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, take down distressing footage of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being attacked during a live-streamed service.
She said Meta was attempting to comply with the order but she indicated she may launch legal action against X.
In a statement, the office said: “eSafety is disappointed that the process has been unnecessarily prolonged, rather than prioritising the safety of Australians and the Australian community.
“eSafety is aware social media users continue to upload and reshare distressing content and appreciates it is challenging for platforms to manage this.”
In a worst-case scenario, the commissioner can seek a Federal Court civil penalty involving daily fines of up to $782,000, backdated to when a notice was first issued. Any fine would be a fraction of the firm’s revenue, however, raising questions about the deterrence power of the watchdog.
In December, the eSafety commissioner launched legal action against X alleging a failure to comply with a legal notice requesting the company provide information on how it was tackling online abuse relating to children under the Online Safety Act. This came after an October fine of about $600,000 for failing to explain how it was fighting child abuse, a fine the company had not paid as of January.
This masthead previously reported X has more than halved the number of moderators it employs since being acquired by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022. The company also does not have an Australian office.
The eSafety commissioner has requested both the judicial review and civil penalty hearings be heard together in the Federal Court.
Echoing the prime minister, Dutton said the firms had artificial intelligence technology that quickly highlighted dangerous content, putting the onus on the firms to take down content before being they are forced.
“When they have that red flag, they should take it down. If there’s a hesitation of putting it up, if it’s an innocent graphic that they’ve caught, well they can rectify that,” he said on the Today program.
“But at the moment, I think they’ve got complete contempt for families, for kids who spend a lot of time on social media, and the influence that they exert needs to have that social licence.”
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.