Elon Musk’s company, X, announced on Saturday that it will oppose an order from an Australian watchdog to remove content connected to the violent stabbing of a priest during a live-streamed church service in Sydney.
A 16-year-old suspect allegedly attacked Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, causing injuries to his head and chest, and leading to a protest by followers of the Assyrian Christian church in western Sydney.
The bishop, while in the hospital, conveyed a message stating he is recuperating from his wounds and has pardoned his attacker.
The widely circulated video of the violent incident on social media platforms has been held responsible by Australian authorities for exacerbating tensions in the community.
X’s government affairs department mentioned that it initially followed an eSafety directive to remove specific posts in Australia related to the recent attack, pending a legal challenge.
However, the social media platform later received a request from Australia’s eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant to globally suppress the posts.
X revealed it had been cautioned about facing a daily fine of Aus$785,000 (US$500,000) for non-compliance.
Musk criticized the Australian censorship commissioner, stating, “The Australian censorship commissar is demanding global content bans!” as he reshared the company’s response.
X contested, “The eSafety Commissioner does not have the authority to dictate what content X’s users can see globally. We will robustly challenge this unlawful and dangerous approach in court.”
‘Shocked’
X asserted that the posts did not violate its own rules on violent speech.
The eSafety watchdog stated on Friday that it was striving to ensure X’s full compliance with Australian law.
“We are considering whether further regulatory action is required,” it said.
The authority expressed disappointment over the unnecessary prolongation of the process, rather than prioritizing the safety of Australians and the Australian community.
eSafety mentioned it was also collaborating with major social media platforms regarding the reposting and sharing of content promoting terrorism or extreme violence.
Chris Minns, the Premier of New South Wales, heavily criticized certain platforms for making violent images of the attack accessible.
“I’m shocked but I’m not surprised,” he said Saturday when asked about X’s statement.
“That is exactly what I would expect from X or Twitter or whatever you want to call it: a disregard for the information that they have pumped into our communities, lies and rumours spreading like wildfire,” Minns said.
“And when things go wrong, throwing their hands up in the air to say they’re not prepared to do anything about it.”
Minns urged for stricter regulations governing social media companies.
“We have had enough. Sydney has had enough.”
AFP
