Australian Court Sides with Musk, Refuses to Extend Deletion Order

The federal court has ruled in favor of X (formerly Twitter) amid ongoing tensions between the government and X over a stabbing attack video that took place at a church in Sydney, Australia. This effectively supports X's refusal to comply with the Australian government's order to delete the video.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to Australia's ABC News and others, on the 13th (local time), Australian Federal Court Judge Jeffrey Kennett dismissed the government's request to extend the temporary removal order for the video. The specific reasons for the ruling were not disclosed. A final hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place within a few weeks.

The video shows a 16-year-old boy attacking a bishop who was conducting mass with a weapon at an Assyrian Eastern Church in Sydney on the evening of the 15th of last month, and then assaulting a priest and congregants who tried to intervene.

Earlier, the Online Safety Commission, Australia's top digital crime response agency, ordered X on the 22nd of last month to block and delete the video citing its violent content, resulting in the video being blocked within Australia. However, X did not delete the video from its servers. Consequently, the video remains accessible in countries outside Australia. It is also accessible within Australia through virtual private networks (VPNs).

The government's temporary order to prevent the video from being made public expires at 5 p.m. on the same day. X's attorney, Brett Walker, explained that they did not comply because the government's deletion order was not valid. X maintains that the video does not incite violence and is part of public discourse.

On the other hand, Tim Begbie, attorney for the Online Safety Commission, argued, "This is not a debate about freedom of expression. It is about the Online Safety Act," insisting that the video should be deleted from all servers. He cited research showing that about a quarter of Australian users use VPNs, criticizing X's measures as insufficient.

The dispute has intensified recently as Elon Musk, owner of X, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese exchanged sharp words over the video removal order.

CEO Musk responded, "The content is stored only on servers in the United States," questioning, "Does the Australian Online Safety Commission have authority over every country on Earth?" Meanwhile, Prime Minister Albanese criticized Musk, saying, "Social media must have social responsibility, but Musk CEO has none," and called him "an arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law and common sense."

Australia's ABC News described the controversy over the ban order as "a preview of a larger battle yet to unfold," stating, "The core issue is whether Australia's regulatory agency has the authority to demand global content removal."