Authored by Rebekah Barnett via 'Dystopian Down Under' blog,

Can Australia's eSafety Commissioner block content globally on demand? Not today, ruled the Australian Federal Court, in a win for Elon Musk's social media platform X.

US billionaire Elon Musk (left), Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant (right)

In a decision this morning, Justice Geoffrey Kennett refused to extend a temporary injunction obtained by eSafety last month, which forced X to remove footage of the Wakeley church stabbing, an alleged religiously motivated terror attack.

Under the Online Safety Act (2021), the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has the authority to order removal of such 'class 1 material' within Australia under threat of hefty fines.

eSafety argued that X had not gone far enough to block the content from Australians, as a geo-block can be circumvented by a VPN. X argued that eSafety was effectively seeking a global ban on content, straying outside of the Australian online harm regulator's jurisdiction.