Australian Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Kennett has lifted a court order that required social platform X to hide a video of a bishop being stabbed in a Sydney church. The video showed the attack on the Assyrian Orthodox bishop on April 15. Kennett stated that it would be unreasonable for the country’s internet safety watchdog to require X to hide the video from all of its users globally. The eSafety Commission had issued a removal notice on April 26, but X was the only social media platform that disobeyed the order.
X geoblocked Australian users from accessing the video, but eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant wanted 65 URLs leading to the video removed from the platform as well. Kennett described X’s argument against removing the URLs as “powerful” and noted that it clashed with the international concept of the “comity of nations,” which acknowledges that countries’ laws have territorial limits. He stated that enforcing such a removal order would infringe on the sovereignty of other countries where X operates, including the United States, where the company is based.
The judge expressed concern that a court in the U.S. would be unlikely to enforce an Australian court injunction on X’s use of the video. Kennett suggested that issuing an injunction may not be the most effective way to hold X accountable. X is set to return to the Federal Court for a pre-trial hearing on its challenge to the validity of Inman Grant’s original removal notice. The court may set a trial date during the hearing, and lawyers are considering potential options, including a possible appeal to the full bench of the Federal Court.
Australian government ministers have supported Inman Grant’s legal action against X and have hinted at potential changes to Australian laws depending on the court’s ruling. Musk, who rebranded X after acquiring Twitter, posted on the platform after the ruling, stating that he believes in upholding Australians’ rights to free speech and that he is not trying to win anything. In response to the judge’s decision to lift the court order, X did not immediately provide a comment.
It is important to note that the case highlights the complexities of regulating content on social media platforms that operate globally. The dispute between X and the Australian authorities raises questions about jurisdiction and the enforcement of court orders across borders. The outcome of this case could have implications for future disputes between tech companies and government regulators regarding the removal of controversial or harmful content from online platforms. The decision to lift the court order in this case could set a precedent for how similar disputes are resolved in the future.
