eSafety tests 'global removal' argument in court battle with Elon Musk's X
Beefed up legal teams for X Corp and the eSafety regulator appeared in court today for a first hint at the showdown to come in the online safety lawsuit, testing the extent of the eSafety Commissioner's enforcement powers.
Lawyers for Australia's eSafety Commissioner have argued that efforts to force Elon Musk's X to ensure graphic footage of the stabbing of a Christian bishop in Sydney’s west is inaccessible from anywhere in the world are entirely consistent with online safety laws passed in the federal parliament.
Representing the eSafety Commissioner, Tim Begbie KC made the argument before Judge Geoffrey Kennett as the regulator seeks to extend its injunction on X until a final hearing can take place on the social media company's compliance with online safety laws, as well as a penalty dispute.
Begbie is going toe-to-toe with high-profile silk Bret Walker SC, who is acting for X, in a case lawyers see as the greatest test to date of the eSafety Commissioner's authority.
Begbie said today that the specific parts of videos the regulator had sought to block with its removal notice are those depicting "the actual graphic and shocking moments of that attacker repeatedly and violently stabbing the bishop in the course of his sermon."
