eSafety loses injunction application on Wakeley stabbing video on X
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The news: The Federal Court of Australia has refused an application by the online safety regulator for a long-term injunction ordering X Corp. to hide content depicting the stabbing of a Christian bishop in Sydney’s west.
The context: The eSafety Commissioner announced legal action last month to force X to remove the content. Federal Court Judge Geoffrey Kennett then granted the regulator's request for a temporary injunction, ordering X to hide content depicting the stabbing behind a notice.
The temporary injunction will expire at 5pm on Monday afternoon, but Kennett rejected the regulator's interlocutory application for a longer-term injunction, which would have been in place while a court battle on the removal notice itself and X's liability played out. That's still to come, with a case management hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Barrister Bret Walker SC, who is representing Elon Musk's X had said on Friday that extending the current injunction would have been "contrary to the interest of justice" if it meant X was restrained, or at risk of contempt of court before it could resolve the argument of the removal notice's validity in the first place.
What they said: In handing down his judgment on the interlocutory application, Kennett said "the application is refused and costs are reserved".
"I appreciate parties may want to see my reasons," he added, saying they "may be ready for publication by the end of the day but I can't promise that".
The source: Federal Court of Australia
