Sydney, Australia

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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).

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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.

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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)