eSafety vs X case just got messier

The eSafety Commissioner's fight against X over videos of the Wakeley stabbing just got messier, with two new groups granted leave to join the case.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) have pulled off a rare legal manoeuvre, winning the right to participate in Federal Court proceedings they caught wind of over in the United States.

It's another knock to eSafety, which has been trying to force Elon Musk's company to remove or hide about 65 instances of footage showing a stabbing attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel since April.

Justice Kennett earlier rejected eSafety's bid to renew the injunction, after hearing arguments that the commissioner had overreached.

Kevin Lynch, a partner at Johnson Winter Slattery, the firm representing the two groups. "Our clients won't be arguing for one side or the other," said Lynch, adding that they're only there to bring an "international perspective". That perspective happens to overlap significantly with the case being made by X, centring on free speech and the appropriate limits of the commissioner's powers. "If an Australian court makes a global takedown order, it might signal to other countries that they can impose similar orders under their own laws," Lynch said.

In other words: if it can happen in Australia, there's nothing to stop it from happening in China, Russia, Myanmar or Iran.
EFF and FIRE now have a seat at the table, in recognition of the fact that this fight "has a major impact upon their interests as freedom of speech advocates", Lynch said.

- CyberBeat