Opposition Leader Peter Dutton criticizes eSafety commissioner's bid for global removal of Wakeley church stabbing footage.
Peter Dutton, the Opposition Leader, has criticized the eSafety commissioner's attempt to remove footage of the Wakeley church stabbing from the internet worldwide. He believes that the commissioner's power to order takedowns should not extend overseas.
Dutton's comments put him at odds with the eSafety commissioner's argument that it must have overseas reach to adequately protect Australians. They also put him at odds with his deputy, Sussan Ley, who supports the commissioner's actions.
Dutton also distanced himself from the position taken by X, which has promised to fight the Australia-based take down order. He believes that social media companies should remove content that incites violence, but that the Australian law should apply equally in the real world and online.
The Online Safety Act, passed by the Coalition in 2021, allows the eSafety commissioner to make legal orders for the removal of 'class 1' extreme material online, including footage of terrorist incidents. The law does not explicitly state whether this should apply to content that is visible to users overseas.
Lawyers for eSafety argued that the law should be interpreted in this way. Lawyers for X did not outline their full arguments against this proposition, but did argue that the claim to global reach was "exorbitant".
On Wednesday, Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Kennett ordered X to hide the identified material worldwide until the next hearing on May 10. X did not appear to comply with a similar order made on Monday.