Using Australian laws to force a foreign-owned platform to take down content globally sets a risky precedent – should we allow all countries to impose their laws on the internet?

Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform?

Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask themselves whether they are equally happy for courts in China, Russia and Iran to determine what Australians can see and post online in Australia.

This is the problem with global “take-down orders”, an issue we now must confront in light of the Australian eSafety commissioner demanding that social media platform X (formerly Twitter) remove videos of a violent stabbing at a church in Sydney.

  • shirro@aussie.zoneEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I think we are more or less on the same page within the bandwidth limits of online conversation.

    Australian courts can’t enforce their orders directly outside Australia. That is just a fact so there is no point even entertaining it except to incite a mob that doesn’t know better.

    The only way such things happen is through international agreements. IP and CSAM are just about universal. I don’t think many services would refuse to take down revenge porn so that is something else that doesn’t seem controversial.

    Musk seems intent on turning his plaything into 4chan. Any normal large media company would likely have complied without the tantrums. Anything to get attention I guess.

    We might be a bit ahead of the curve with respecting adult victims of crime. Not always a bad thing. We were ahead on tobacco packaging, plastic money, HPV vaccines and other things. The US still can’t adult when it comes to sensible gun regulation. I don’t think we should apologize for trying. This is the rule of law in a moderately functional liberal democracy and couldn’t be further from authoritarianism. It is an overreach for sure but Musk has been aiming for Mars for years.