Australian Court Sides With X in Free Speech Battle

An Australian court ruled in favor of X, overturning an eSafety commissioner’s order to block video footage of an attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April.

(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.