Australian Court Extends Injunction Against Social Media Platform X Over Stabbing Video
An Australian court has extended an injunction against the social media platform X, ordering it to remove videos depicting the recent stabbing of a bishop. The decision sets up a clash between the country’s judicial system and the company’s owner, Elon Musk, who has denounced the court’s order as censorship.
The videos in question show the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a church service on April 15, and quickly went viral on X, garnering hundreds of thousands of views. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner issued an order for X and other social media platforms to take down posts containing the video the following day.
While other platforms complied and X blocked the content for Australian viewers, Musk stated that the platform would not delete the videos, which are still visible to users globally. As a result, a judge issued a temporary injunction against the company on Monday, which was extended on Wednesday until a May 10 hearing. X faces potential daily fines of around $509,000 for noncompliance.
Musk argued that censoring content for all countries sets a dangerous precedent, and that the videos in question have already been censored for Australia and are stored only on servers in the USA.
This defiance of local laws marks a shift for Musk, who acquired X in 2022 with the promise of creating a platform for free speech. However, in recent weeks, he has become more resistant to legal orders to remove content, challenging international legal systems and rallying support from his followers.
While X has stated that it is removing posts that praise or glorify the attack, it will allow posts with commentary about it to remain online. The eSafety Commissioner clarified that the removal notice only pertains to the video of the violent stabbing attack at the church.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized Musk’s decision, calling him an “arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law.” Other lawmakers in Australia have been divided over the government’s efforts to force X to remove the video, with some senators even threatening to delete their X accounts in protest.
This clash between X and Australian authorities is just one of many instances where Musk has challenged legal orders to remove content from the platform, testing the boundaries of freedom of speech and regulation in the digital age.
