eSafety Commissioner says removal notice applied only to video of violent stabbing
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The eSafety Commissioner said it sought an injunction from the Federal Court because it was not satisfied that X Corp had satisfactorily complied with its initial removal notice on 16 April.
"To be clear, the removal notice does not relate to commentary, public debate or other posts about this event," a spokesperson said in a statement on Monday night, after the court issued its interim injunction against X. "It only concerns the video of the violent stabbing attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel."
It said it would continue to use its suite of powers under the Online Safety Act to protect Australians from serious online harms, including extreme violent content.
Federal Court issues injunction ordering X to hide violent content
The news: The Federal Court of Australia has granted the online safety watchdog a temporary injunction ordering Elon Musk’s X Corp to hide content depicting a violent stabbing in Sydney behind a notice.
The eSafety Commissioner filed the action on Monday afternoon. A preliminary hearing took place before Federal Court Judge Geoffrey Kennett on Monday evening.
X has 24 hours to hide the content.
A further hearing will be held on Wednesday to determine whether the injunction will be extended.
The context: The eSafety Commissioner last week said in a statement that it had issued Meta and X with notices related to the resharing and reposting of content depicting violence in Sydney, following a stabbing in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley on 15 April.
In a post on Sunday morning, the platform’s Global Government Affairs account said the company had received a demand from the commissioner’s officer to remove violating posts or face a daily fine of “$785,000”, but that it would “robustly challenge” the orders in court.
What they said: “The recent attacks in Australia are a horrific assault on free society. Our condolences go out to those who have been affected, and we stand with the Australian people in calling for those responsible to be brought to justice,” X said in a post on Sunday.
“Following these events, the Australian eSafety Commissioner ordered X to remove certain posts in Australia that publicly commented on the recent attack against a Christian Bishop. These posts did not violate X’s rules on violent speech,” it said.
“X believes that eSafety’s order was not within the scope of Australian law and we complied with the directive pending a legal challenge.”
The sources: eSafety Commissioner, Federal Court of Australia
