In a recent legal battle, Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) has secured a victory in Australia on Monday, after a judge refused to extend an injunction banning graphic videos of an attack on a Sydney church last month.
As per Financial Times, the incident occurred last month, where four people were injured in what authorities termed a "terrorist incident."
The Australian government pushed for the removal of these videos for all users of X.
However, Musk argued that such action would amount to internet censorship.
Despite the platform blocking access to the video for Australian users, it remained accessible through virtual private networks (VPNs), which allowed users to bypass restrictions.
During the hearing, Tim Begbie KC, who spoke for the eSafety commissioner, emphasized that X had taken down content voluntarily in the past but resisted orders from the Australian watchdog.
Meanwhile, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, a victim of the attack, publicly opposed the removal of the videos, expressing concerns about free speech.
However, Dana McKay, a lecturer at RMIT University, noted that X's decision to "geo-block" the videos in Australia strengthened its case.
She added that if the judge ruled that the Australian watchdog’s bid to extend the injunction globally represented over-reach, it could have implications for other social media companies and governments.
Moreover, the eSafety commissioner said in a statement that the interim injunction would now lapse on Monday after the court declined to grant its application to extend the injunction "to hide the material identified in the removal notice given to X Corp".
It added that the removal notice included specific video links and "did not extend to commentary, public debate or other posts about the event".
