Facebook’s parent company, Meta, and X/Twitter have been directed to remove violent and frightening recordings and photos from the stabbing of a prominent Orthodox Christian leader in Sydney’s west on Monday evening.
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Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, told reporters on Tuesday that X and Meta had been given notices to remove material depicting “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact.
The warnings are about Emmanuel’s alleged stabbing during a service at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley just after 7 p.m. on Monday. The service was live-streamed, and a recording of it has been distributed online.
Inman Grant explained that as the majority of mainstream social media platforms have them engaged, he is not satisfied that enough effort is put in place to protect Australians from such extreme and gratuitous violent material that has filled the online space.
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According to him, that is the reason he has asked that they remove it based on the Online Safety Act authority. He said the severity of any fines will be determined by the intensity of the noncompliance, and additional removal notices to other platforms may be issued.
Notices have not been issued in response to images from the tragic Bondi Junction Westfield Junction stabbing, which have been circulating on social media since Saturday.
While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese expressed concern over the videos circulating online, and the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, had contacted Inman Grant to get the recordings removed.
He explained that the posting of potentially damaging videos on social media, particularly for young people who have access to it is a cause for concern.
He said, “We will continue to engage with the eSafety Commissioner and use other available tools to demand that material be removed.