PARIS — X CEO Linda Yaccarino suffered a blow in Australia on Friday following a standoff with online safety regulators.
Elon Musk-owned social media platform X announced last week that Respite in Australia as a court refuses to extend an order temporarily blocking video of a stabbing attack at a Sydney church.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel stabbed The livestreamed sermon was widely distributed online and garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Australian eSafety CommissionerThe country’s online watchdog granted a temporary legal injunction ordering Mr X to hide posts showing footage of the attack.
Speaking on stage at the VivaTech conference in Paris, Yaccarino accused Australia of overreach in the conflict.
“Even if Company X is acting to comply with the law, we will not hesitate to say no if we feel there has been a clear overreach and that the residents of that particular area are being put at risk or their access to information is being put at risk,” she said.
“With what’s been going on in Australia recently, X needs to stand up and protect people and ensure people have access to information and can make their own decisions,” she added.
On May 13, a Federal Court judge denied the eSafety Commissioner’s request to extend an injunction ordering him to remove posts showing violent acts against priests that occurred in April.
“The good news is that the people won,” Yaccarino, a former head of international advertising for CNBC parent company NBCUniversal, said onstage. “We’re excited to be that beacon of light and that place of truth.”
The incident led to a clash between Musk and the Australian government. Musk criticized the move as an attack on free speech.
CNBC reached out to Australia’s eSafety regulator for comment on Friday but did not immediately receive a response.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese interview On April 23, he accused Musk of having “arrogance” and of thinking he could ignore Australian law.
He said “this isn’t an issue of censorship” but “an issue of decency” and that Musk “should demonstrate that.”
In response to the, Musk posted on X“I don’t believe I’m above the law. Does the Prime Minister believe he should have jurisdiction over the entire planet?”
eSafety has previously said it believes ensuring online safety requires “platforms to take all practical and reasonable steps to minimise the harm that may be caused to Australians”.
—CNBC’s Sumathi Bala contributed to this report.