Elon Musk’s X has won a court stay in a battle against the Australian government

Elon Musk’s social media platform X won a reprieve on Monday after an Australian court refused to extend a temporary injunction blocking videos of a stabbing at a Sydney church.

A Federal Court judge has rejected a bid by Australia’s online watchdog eSafety Commissioner to extend an injunction to remove posts on X showing the violent assault of a priest in April, according to in front of local media.

Bishop Mar Marie Emmanuel was stabbed during a live-streamed sermon that was widely shared online, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

After the country incident Commissioner for Electronic Safety obtained a temporary injunction ordering X to hide posts that showed footage of the attack.

Tech billionaire Musk challenged the earlier court order as an attack on free speech.

“Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what Australia’s ‘e-safety commissioner’ is demanding, then what’s to stop any country from controlling the entire internet?” Musk posted on X.

The incident provoked a bitter clash between Musk and the Australian government, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

In an an interview last month Albanese said Musk thought “he is above Australian law” and called it “arrogance”.

“The Electronic Safety Commissioner has made a decision. All other social media platforms complied without complaint. This is a measure that has bipartisan support in this country,” Albanese said at the time.

“This is not about censorship,” it’s about “decency,” and Musk needs to “show a little,” he added.

In response, Musk posted on X: “I don’t think I’m above the law. Does the Prime Minister think he should have jurisdiction over the entire Earth?” referring to Albanese.

“This platform adheres to the laws of the countries in those countries, but it would be wrong to extend the decisions of one country to other countries,” he added.

In a statement last month on the issue, Australia’s online regulator said it was difficult to completely remove harmful content online, especially as users continued to repost it.

Still, online safety “requires platforms to do everything practical and reasonable to minimize the harm they may cause to Australians”, added the eSafety Commissioner.