Australian online watchdog drops court case against X over stabbing video

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog said on Wednesday she had dropped her Federal Court case that attempted to force X Corp. to take down a video of a Sydney bishop being stabbed.

But eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she would continue her legal action in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal against the platform rebranded in 2023 after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk bought Twitter.

Musk welcomed the decision, posting on X, “Freedom of speech is worth fighting for.”

The case before the tribunal, which reviews bureaucrats’ administrative decisions, had been brought by X and was running in parallel with the Federal Court case.

Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee, said cost was a factor in her decision to “consolidate” her commission’s legal action against X.

“The real questions that I want tested through an independent merits review will be done at the AAT and it didn’t make sense for me to be fighting a battle on two fronts when, let’s face it, the war is going to be much longer and more extended” than originally thought, Inman Grant told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Inman Grant also revealed that her legal action against X had led to online attacks against her and her family including the malicious release online of personal or identifying information without the subject’s permission, known as doxxing.

She blamed Musk for the attacks.

“He issued a dog whistle to 181 million users around the globe which resulted in death threats directed at me, which resulted in doxxing of my family members, including my three children,” Inman Grant said.

“So I think with great power comes great responsibility and exercising that restraint, in terms of targeting a regulator who is here to protect the