Australia's eSafety Commissioner has withdrawn court action trying to force X, formerly Twitter, to remove video of the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney.
"After weighing multiple considerations, including litigation across multiple cases, I have considered this option likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children," the commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said.
"As a result, I have decided to discontinue the proceedings in the Federal Court against X Corp in relation to the matter of extreme violent material depicting the real-life graphic stabbing of a religious leader at Wakeley."
The decision by the eSafety Commissioner to issue a removal notice to X will now be reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The commissioner said most Australians accept this kind of graphic material should not be on broadcast television, which begged an obvious question of why it should be allowed to be distributed freely and accessible online 24/7 to anyone, including children.
Footage captured from a livestream of the bishop giving a service at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church had been circulating online. The Bishop has forgiven the attacker. A16-year-old has been charged.
Billionaire Elon Musk saw the issue as a free speech one.
"We will robustly challenge this unlawful and dangerous approach in court," X said.
“Global takedown orders go against the very principles of a free and open internet and threaten free speech everywhere.”
Other major social media platforms and search engines complied with requests removal notices, including Meta, Microsoft, Google, Snap, Tik Tok, Reddit and Telegram.
"So, it was a reasonable expectation when we made our request to remove extremely graphic video of an attack, that X Corp would take action in line with these publicly stated policies and practices," the commissioner said.
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