Australia’s online safety regulator has dropped a high-profile legal case against Elon Musk’s social media giant, X. The e-Safety Commissioner had wanted the platform to take down videos of the stabbing of a Sydney priest. The federal court case was shaping up as a test of the regulator’s global powers but has now been abandoned.
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00:00The battle has been lost.
00:03I made a strategic decision to withdraw here.
00:06But the e-safety commissioner warns the fight is just beginning.
00:11Let's face it, the war is going to be much longer and more extended.
00:14In the wake of the stabbing of a Sydney bishop in April, the online safety authority wanted
00:19to force X and other companies to take down graphic vision of the attack, not just here,
00:26but globally.
00:27The only way you can remove that content is at scale, is at the source.
00:34X and its billionaire owner were quick to claim the win.
00:38This case has raised important questions on how legal powers can be used to threaten global
00:42censorship of speech, and we're heartened to see that freedom of speech has prevailed.
00:47Freedom of speech is worth fighting for.
00:49Elon Musk took a personal interest in the case.
00:52Julian McGrant says that carried consequences.
00:55She issued a dog whistle to 181 million users around the globe, which resulted in death
01:01threats directed at me.
01:03It is an absolute disgrace that she and her family have been subjected to this online
01:09abuse.
01:10This case was being closely watched as a test of a domestic authority's power to regulate
01:14a global space.
01:16Some have argued it would have been a hard one for the e-safety commissioner to win,
01:20and others hope highlighting the regulator's lack of power might push governments into
01:24action.
01:25It may end up that the case for change will be proved by losing in court, rather than
01:30by winning.
01:31Media giant News Corp wants social media platforms to have to abide by a social licence.
01:37Essentially a new set of tougher regulations and obligations as to how they operate in
01:42Australia.
01:43It's time for them to play by our rules.
01:46Given recent experience, that might be easier said than done.