🗞️Federal Court Denies eSafety Order to Hide Sydney Terror Video on Social Media

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The Federal Court has decided against extending a temporary injunction forcing social media giant X, formerly Twitter, to remove videos of a terrorist stabbing in Sydney from its global platform. The platform has been under pressure from the eSafety Commissioner to remove approximately sixty clips from the footage, which depicts an attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Wakeley, Western Sydney, in April. The Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, may order the removal of "class 1 material" under the terms of the 2021 Online Safety Act, with the threat of heavy fines.

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The eSafety Commissioner requested that the current order be extended past Monday at 5 p.m., when it was scheduled to expire, but Justice Geoffrey Kennett rejected their request this morning. The impact of X's defiance of the court's authority and whether extending or terminating the order would make the court more mocking were topics of Friday's arguments before the court. Tim Begbie, the eSafety Commissioner's attorney, stated that "what that says about the authority of the court is pretty striking" if X's disobedience resulted in a lapse of the court's orders. A contempt of court charge may eventually result from disobeying court orders. That might theoretically result in life in prison for individuals and fines for businesses.Although there have since been cracks in the bipartisan support for the eSafety Commissioner's court action. Since then, the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, has declared that it is "silly" to expect global removal; others have agreed, albeit they have still expressed widespread support for the regulator's mission. Justice Kennett has not yet given an explanation for his ruling. The case is scheduled to return to court on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. for a case management hearing.

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