Elon Musk Says 'Freedom Of Speech Is Worth Fighting For' After Australia Drops Legal Battle Against X Over Church Stabbing Videos

Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has emerged victorious in a legal battle with the Australian government. Australia has decided to drop the case against the social media platform, which was initiated to remove footage of a church stabbing in Sydney.

What Happened: On Wednesday, the Australian government announced that it would no longer pursue legal action against Musk’s X to have graphic footage of a church stabbing in Sydney removed from the platform, CNBC reported.

The legal dispute, which began in April, was seen as a test case for the Australian government’s ability to enforce online safety standards on major social media platforms.

The decision to drop the case was made by Julie Inman-Grant, Commissioner of Australia’s online safety regulator, who believed that it would “likely achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children.”

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Musk’s Global Government Affairs team welcomed the news, stating that freedom of speech had prevailed. Musk himself also voiced his support for free speech on X.

DogeDesigner wrote, “The Australian eSafety Commissioner revealed that other social media platforms including Meta, Microsoft, Google, Snap, TikTok, Reddit, & Telegram, complied with their requests and removal notices. Only 𝕏 took a stand against censorship.”

“Freedom of speech is worth fighting for," Musk responded.

Why It Matters: Following the church stabbing incident in April, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner issued a temporary legal injunction ordering Musk’s X to remove posts that showed the footage. Musk challenged this court order, arguing that it infringed on free speech.

Musk also hit back at the Australian Prime Minister in April. The Australian government’s decision to drop the case comes after a court refused to extend a temporary order blocking the videos globally last month.

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Image via Shutterstock

This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari