Australian officials are making attempts to have Elon Musk remove a recent video of Sydney Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being stabbed during a livestreamed service April 15. The horrific incident has been declared an act of terrorism and religious extremism is suspected. Emmanuel is recovering and has asked his congregation to not just pray for him, but pray for the assailant too. The Australian online safety regulator called for the video to not just be blocked in Australia — but to be removed from Twitter ("X") altogether. It has been seen and shared millions of times. As Australia’s eSafety Commission makes moves to censor Twitter (“X”) posts, the platform has quickly become the top news app in the country. .On Monday, Sydney Justice Geoffrey Kennett ordered a temporary ban on the video. A permanent ban hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, where Kennett extended the injunction to May 10. In seeking the injunction, the esafety commissioner alleged Musk’s company ignored earlier notices warning he must take down the video. The Australian government maintains the position the video could be damaging to the community, especially young people, by causing tension and planting ideas about terrorism. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Musk as an out-of-touch, “arrogant billionaire” who thinks he’s above the law, according to ABC News. He also denies his government’s demands are about censorship and insists its basis is “common sense and common decency,” he told local television, per MSNBC. .Musk intends to fight the ban. Other major social media platforms agreed to take the video down, but Musk says no, "people want the truth.”The Tesla billionaire reasons if he were to comply and take down the video, “what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?”He pointed out it’s bad enough the video has already been blocked from Australian netizens and sounded the alarm on the fact Australian officials sought to enforce a worldwide ban on the content..As of Wednesday, users in Australia could view the video only with a VPN (Virtual Personal Network), according to AFP News. Twitter attorney Marcus Hoyne said Wednesday Emmanuel backs Musk in the debate, asserting the footage should be available online. "He is strongly of the view that the material should be available," Hoyne told the court Wednesday. “X is the only one standing up for their rights,” tweeted Musk. This is not the first time Musk has faced fire from internet regulators down under. In March, the Australian government threatened Musk with a AUS$800,000 (roughly CAD $715,000) fine and demanded Canadian Chris 'Billboard Chris' Elston remove a post critical of a trans health official.
