Dutton says online safety laws can only apply nationally
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More news: Australia's online safety laws are limited to domestic content, opposition leader Peter Dutton has said in an interview on Channel Nine's Today program.
When asked about the removal notices from the eSafety Commissioner regarding last week's stabbing, Dutton said Australian policymakers needed to be realistic about the options ahead in the online watchdog's legal battle with Elon Musk's X.
What they said: "I'd love to say that it could be taken down so that no kid across the world could watch it, but we strongly support the eSafety Commissioner's position in relation to taking it down so that Australians can't view it, but we can't pretend that Australia can dictate to other countries around the world what people see within their countries, as we wouldn't tolerate that here, that Russia could dictate what content is seen in Australia," Dutton said.
"I just think we need to be realistic about what the options are here. We can't police the whole internet across the world, but we can influence what happens in Australian society," he added.
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten, joined Dutton in the Nine interview and said "Elon Musk is not a free speech warrior".
"If he was, he'd allow Twitter to be able to put up the movements of his jet, which he doesn't. If he was really a free speech warrior, what's he saying about his business interests in China when China disagrees with it?" Shorten said.
"Elon Musk thinks he can tell Australia what to do, and we're saying, 'no, you don't, Elon. You may run your company, but you don't run Australia, and our laws, we're sovereign, and if we want you to take it down, we expect you to respect that'."
X says stabbing video 'does not encourage or provoke violence'
The news: In a recent post on X, formerly Twitter, the company's Global Government Affairs Account said the company believes it has complied with a removal notice from the online safety regulator ordering it to remove graphic footage of last week’s stabbing of a Christian bishop in Sydney’s west.
The context: X believes the posts should not be banned in Australia because the posts fit within categories of permitted content that can reasonably be considered as being part of public discussion or debate.
The company is also challenging, before the Federal Court of Australia, the global remit of the removal notices which it says goes beyond the regulator's and government's authority.
On Wednesday, the Federal Court of Australia granted the online safety watchdog an extended injunction ordering X to hide footage of the stabbing behind a notice until 10 May.
The Federal Court first granted the eSafety Commissioner a temporary injunction on Monday, after the watchdog last week said the company flouted a removal notice the company said it would challenge in court.
X owner Elon Musk has said that eSafety’s order could free up any country to control “the entire internet”. In a series of posts to X this week, the billionaire criticised Australia’s regulatory efforts and taken aim at comments made by Australian officials on the issue.
What they said: "The content within the posts does not encourage or provoke violence and fits within the Australian legislation's category that permits content that can be reasonably considered as part of public discussion or debate," X said in a post published late Thursday.
"Second, we oppose the demand to globally remove this content from X, as we believe that no government should possess such authority," the company said.
The source: X Corp.
