Court interim order for X to hide Sydney bishop attack video
Elon Musk’s X must hide any footage of the alleged stabbing of a Sydney cleric at least until Wednesday after the eSafety commissioner sought a late night interim injunction.
Social media platform X has been ordered by the Federal Court to hide all posts containing graphic images and video of the stabbing of Sydney cleric Mar Mari Emmanuel until at least Wednesday pending possible court action.
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, won an interim injunction that requires X to hide the material from all users on its platform worldwide until Wednesday, when the parties will again face off over whether the posts should be public.
X must comply with the order “as soon as reasonably practicable and within no more than 24 hours”, judge Geoffrey Kennett ruled on Monday night.
They must hide the material under a warning notice.
eSafety last week issued a notice to social media platforms X and Meta to remove the graphic video material of the stabbing incident involving Bishop Emmanuel. Meta did so, but X challenged whether eSafety’s order was lawful, and argued it was a threat to freedom of speech.
X said it had complied with eSafety’s directive, but the commissioner disagreed and sought the interim injunction.
The barrister for eSafety, Christopher Tran, argued there could be irreparable harm if the material continued to circulate, both “intrinsic harm” to people viewing the material and that it “can be co-opted by those seeking to advance propaganda to radicalise others.”
“Those are cogent harms,” he said.
Marcus Hoyne, for X, sought a delay on the interim injunction, saying it was 2am where his client lived and he hadn’t been able to obtain instructions.
Justice Kennett granted the application and the parties will appear again on Wednesday.
A spokesman for eSafety said the office had taken the action against X because it “was not satisfied the actions it took constituted compliance”.
“eSafety will continue to use its suite of powers under the Online Safety Act to protect Australians from serious online harms, including extreme violent content,” he said.
Ahead of the late-night court session, X had been criticised by both sides of politics for failing to comply with the eSafety’s notice.
Anthony Albanese said he found it “extraordinary” that X had chosen not to comply. “This isn’t about freedom of expression, this is about the dangerous implications that can occur when things that are simply not true … are replicated and weaponised,” the Prime Minister said.
Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said the opposition backed the government in its approach on X.
“They have to comply with the law of Australia. It is not optional. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you want to operate in Australia you have to play by the rules in Australia,” Mr Coleman said.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek called out X owner Elon Musk personally, saying “this egotistical billionaire thinks it’s more important for him to show whatever he wants on X or Twitter … than to respect the victims of the crimes.”
The eSafety Commissioner and X have had a number of run-ins in recent months, including the commissioner commencing legal proceedings last year against X for failing to pay a $610,500 fine.
More Coverage
Climate Active exodus lifts fears
Labor to continue with voluntary emission offset scheme despite a spate of companies leaving amid concerns about the validity of some credits.
Farming family fury at ‘peanuts’ deal
A company linked to a deregistered international student kingpin scored a quick $22m profit in a land deal that has left elderly hobby farmers feeling they were paid ‘relative peanuts’ for the site.