Elon Musk says “free speech has prevailed” after Australia’s internet watchdog abandoned its court battle over videos of a Sydney church stabbing.

The eSafety Commissioner on Wednesday announced she was discontinuing Federal Court proceedings launched in May against X, formerly known as Twitter, after clips of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being stabbed during a live-streamed sermon on April 15 remained on the platform for Australian users to see.

“Today I have decided to consolidate action concerning my Class 1 removal notice to X Corp in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal,” Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant said.

“After weighing multiple considerations, including litigation across multiple cases, I have considered this option likely to achieve the most positive outcome for the online safety of all Australians, especially children.

“As a result, I have decided to discontinue the proceedings in the Federal Court against X Corp.”

Musk’s social media platform responded later on Wednesday.

“We welcome the news that the eSafety Commissioner is no longer pursuing legal action against X seeking the global removal of content that does not violate X’s rules,” it wrote.

“This case has raised important questions on how legal powers can be used to threaten global censorship of speech, and we are heartened to see that freedom of speech has prevailed.”

We welcome the news that the eSafety Commissioner is no longer pursuing legal action against X seeking the global removal of content that does not violate X’s rules.

This case has raised important questions on how legal powers can be used to threaten global censorship of speech,…

— Global Government Affairs (@GlobalAffairs) June 5, 2024

A review into Inman-Grant’s decision to issue X the removal notice will be conducted by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, as the commissioner stands by her decision.

“Our sole goal and focus in issuing our removal notice was to prevent this extremely violent footage from going viral, potentially inciting further violence and inflicting more harm on the Australian community,” she said.

Inman-Grant said the key concern throughout the case was the ease by which children were able to access the “extremely violent” stabbing video on X.

Other social media platforms and search engines complied with the requests as the videos violated their terms of service and standards of decency.

The social media giant had removed a compilation video that featured footage of the Bondi stabbing, the Wakeley church stabbing and older footage of the killing of two Victorian police officers, when notified by the commission following the church attack.

“It was a reasonable expectation when we made our request to remove extremely graphic video of an attack, that X Corp would take action in line with these publicly stated policies and practices,” she said.

Inman-Grant said she would continue to use all her powers under the Online Safety Act to hold tech companies to account without fear or favour.

“We will not waver from this commitment.”

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offence after allegedly stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at his Christ the Good Shepherd church in western Sydney.

Six boys, aged 14 to 17, who were loosely connected to the 16-year-old, have been charged after an investigation into a group allegedly adhering to religiously motivated violent extremist ideology.

-with AAP