Australia's cyber safety regulator on Wednesday decided to drop a legal challenge against Elon Musk-owned X over the removal of videos of the stabbing of an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney, after a setback last month in the federal court.

Judge Geoffrey Kennett in May rejected a bid by the eSafety commissioner to extend a temporary order for the social media platform to block videos of the knife attack, which Australian authorities had called a terrorist attack.

Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement that the regulator had decided to drop its legal action against X.

"Most Australians accept this kind of graphic material should not be on broadcast television, which begs an obvious question of why it should be allowed to be distributed freely and accessible online 24/7 to anyone, including children," Grant said.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/elon-musks-x-wins-legal-battle-over-ban-on-church-stabbing-video-720718">Elon Musk's X wins legal battle over ban on Australia church stabbing video</a>

She said a major concern was the ease by which children were able to access the violent content on X.

Grant said she originally issued X the notice to remove the video in order to prevent the "extremely violent footage from going viral", potentially inciting further violence and inflicting more harm on the community.

"I stand by my investigators and the decisions eSafety made," she said.

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offence for the alleged attack in April.

The legal tussle had sparked heated exchanges between Musk and senior Australian officials including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who called Musk "an arrogant billionaire" for his objections to take down the video. Musk has posted memes criticising the regulatory order, describing it as censorship.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/sydney-church-stabbing-16-year-old-charged-for-allegedly-committing-a-terrorist-act-713054">Sydney church stabbing: 16-year-old charged for allegedly ‘committing a terrorist act’</a>

Other major platforms such as Meta, TikTok, Reddit and Telegram, took down the video when asked.

X had blocked Australian users from viewing the posts but refused to remove them globally on the grounds that one country's rules should not control the internet.

But the regulator argued that geo-blocking Australians, the solution X offered, was ineffective because several users used virtual private networks that disguised their locations. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Australia's cyber safety regulator on Wednesday decided to drop a legal challenge against Elon Musk-owned X over the removal of videos of the stabbing of an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney, after a setback last month in the federal court.

Australia's cyber safety regulator on Wednesday decided to drop a legal challenge against Elon Musk-owned X over the removal of videos of the stabbing of an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney, after a setback last month in the federal court. Judge Geoffrey Kennett in May rejected a bid by the eSafety commissioner to extend a temporary order for the social media platform to block videos of the knife attack, which Australian authorities had called a terrorist attack. Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement that the regulator had decided to drop its legal action against X. "Most Australians accept this kind of graphic material should not be on broadcast television, which begs an obvious question of why it should be allowed to be distributed freely and accessible online 24/7 to anyone, including children," Grant said. Also Read | Elon Musk's X wins legal battle over ban on Australia church stabbing video She said a major concern was the ease by which children were able to access the violent content on X. Grant said she originally issued X the notice to remove the video in order to prevent the "extremely violent footage from going viral", potentially inciting further violence and inflicting more harm on the community. "I stand by my investigators and the decisions eSafety made," she said. A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offence for the alleged attack in April. The legal tussle had sparked heated exchanges between Musk and senior Australian officials including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who called Musk "an arrogant billionaire" for his objections to take down the video. Musk has posted memes criticising the regulatory order, describing it as censorship. Also Read | Sydney church stabbing: 16-year-old charged for allegedly ‘committing a terrorist act’ Other major platforms such as Meta, TikTok, Reddit and Telegram, took down the video when asked. X had blocked Australian users from viewing the posts but refused to remove them globally on the grounds that one country's rules should not control the internet. But the regulator argued that geo-blocking Australians, the solution X offered, was ineffective because several users used virtual private networks that disguised their locations. (With inputs from agencies)

Australia drops court action against Musk’s X over Sydney church stabbing posts

Elon Musk-owned X won a legal battle against the Australian online watchdog over imposing a global ban on dozens of videos shared of the church stabbing incident which have been shared and circulated on the social media platform.

Elon Musk-owned X won a legal battle against the Australian online watchdog over imposing a global ban on dozens of videos shared of the church stabbing incident which have been shared and circulated on the social media platform. The Australian online watchdog eSafety Commission had last month won a temporary court injunction after X had refused to abide by the regulator's orders to take down the videos. However, the legal block on the Sydney church stabbing videos was overturned by the Federal Court on Monday (May 13). Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Kennett denied an extension to the temporary order of removal of videos showing the stabbing of a priest in Sydney in April. Also Read: Australian watchdog seeks removal of stabbing video from X worldwide "The orders of the court will be that the application to extend the interlocutory injunction... is refused," said Kennett, without stating any reasons for his decision. X agreed to remove videos in Australia but failed to abide by the demand for worldwide removal Australia's eSafety Commissioner said that he wants the company, owned by Elon Musk, to remove 65 video and audio clips in Australia as well as worldwide. After the injunction, X had to hide nearly 65 posts which included Wakeley church stabbing videos. The social media site, earlier known as Twitter, had agreed to geo-block the posts so that users in Australia are not able to see them. However, the eSafety Commission stated that it was not sufficient. It demanded that the posts be pulled down by X globally and claimed that they are still easily accessible in Australia by using virtual private networks which mask the location of a user. As per the eSafety Commission, virtual private networks are used by nearly a quarter of Australians. The online watchdog had expressed worry that the video could be used for radicalising people online. However, lawyers representing X Corp said that there should have been no removal notice against the video as it was not overly graphic, did not meet the legal threshold for removal of the video as per Australian law and failed to glorify terrorism. Watch: Musk's net worth up $37.3 bn in biggest weekly gain since pre-Twitter deal This legal decision is not X's final legal win in the case which led to weeks of local debate between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Musk. The ruling of the court cannot be seen as a total victory for X since it had not abided by the order to take down the videos worldwide and could face further legal action. The case will help people understand the legal responsibilities of the social media platform and the use of geoblocking. (With inputs from agencies)

Elon Musk's X wins legal battle over ban on Australia church stabbing video

The owner of social media platform X, Elon Musk, on Tuesday (April 23) said that they will challenge an Australian injunction which has asked the platform to remove the videos of the church stabbing incident that took place in Sydney.

The owner of social media platform X, Elon Musk, on Tuesday (April 23) said that they will challenge an Australian injunction which has asked the platform to remove the videos of the church stabbing incident that took place in Sydney. An injunction was secured by Australia's internet watchdog late Monday as per which X is supposed to hide videos which allegedly showed someone allegedly slashing a Sydney bishop in the head during a live-streamed sermon. The pleas of the Australian government to pull down the images were earlier ignored by X and Musk had stated that the company would appeal against the injunction on free speech grounds. Also Read: Elon Musk postpones India trip, aims to visit later this year "Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian 'eSafety Commissar' is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet," posted the tech billionaire on X. "We have already censored the content in question for Australia, pending legal appeal, and it is stored only on servers in the USA," he said. Australian PM Albanese calls Musk "arrogant billionaire" Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Musk is an "arrogant billionaire" who is not able to see the distress caused by the videos. "We'll do what's necessary to take on this arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law, but also above common decency," said Albanese, while speaking to public broadcaster ABC. "The idea that someone would go to court for the right to put up violent content on a platform shows how out-of-touch Mr Musk is," he added. A late-night injunction was granted to Australia's eSafety Commission which forced X to remove the church stabbing footage for the next two days as further arguments remained pending. The videos were blocked by X in Australia, however, they are still visible to users in other parts of the world. Australia vs tech giants A 16-year-old suspect had last week slashed bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in the head and chest which sparked a riot by the Assyrian Christian church's followers in western Sydney. Watch: Elon Musk announces new X feature - Community Posts The government authorities in Australia have blamed the video of the bloody attack, which was widely circulated on social media platforms, for increasing tensions in the community. Australia, with its groundbreaking "Online Safety Act" which was passed in 2021, has made efforts to hold tech giants accountable for the posts made by their users online. Recently, X was slapped with a fine of $388,000 by the watchdog for not being able to show how it is combatting child sexual abuse content. (With inputs from agencies)

Musk to challenge order on removal of Australian church stabbing videos from X

A Sydney bishop brutally stabbed during a live-streamed sermon said Thursday he is recovering and forgives his attacker, declaring: "You are my son." Watch in for more details!

Stabbed Sydney bishop forgives attacker, says 'recovering quickly'

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