Australian Court Sides With X in Free Speech Battle

(Left) SpaceX, Twitter, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk during his visit at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on June 16, 2023; (Right) The X logo on a screen in Paris on July 24, 2023. Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images

An Australian court has ruled in favor of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, allowing it to keep video footage of an attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel accessible within the country.

The decision overturned an earlier order by the eSafety commissioner that had required X to block Australians from viewing the footage, according to a copy of the ruling and a statement posted by X’s Global Government Affairs account.

Following the attack on April 15 during a livestreamed sermon at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, several X users posted videos of the incident.

Emmanuel himself believed that the public should be allowed to see the footage, making his opinion known in a sermon two weeks after the attack at his church. Despite this, the eSafety commissioner ordered X to restrict access to the video in Australia, even though it remained available on other platforms.

X complied with the order domestically while initiating a legal challenge, according to the X statement. Unsatisfied with the platform’s response, the eSafety commissioner demanded that social media companies censor the footage worldwide.

While other platforms catered to the commissioner’s demands, X contested the global censorship demand in the Australian Federal Court, the company said in the statement. The court ruled in favor of X, rejecting the commissioner’s request for worldwide censorship.

In the statement released on Oct. 11, X stated that it “welcomes the decision of the Australian eSafety commissioner to concede that it should not have ordered X to block the video footage of the tragic attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel.”

“It is regrettable the Commissioner used significant taxpayer resources for this legal battle when communities need more than ever to be allowed to see, decide and discuss what is true and important to them,” the company stated.

Emmanuel spoke out against online censorship after he returned from the hospital, where he was treated for eye injuries sustained in the attack.

“I believe in one thing, and that is the integrity and the identity of the human being,” Emmanuel said at the time. “Every human being has the right to express their belief.”

The eSafety commissioner’s office had initially pursued the removal of 65 posts containing videos of the attack. The legal battle between X and the commissioner lasted six months before the commissioner conceded that the platform was correct in its stance.

“Whether in Australia or around the world, X will fight for your right to free speech,” the platform stated.

Nina Nguyen contributed to this report.