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Following a significant regulatory appeal, a national review panel has overturned a earlier ruling that prevented Australian-based users from accessing recorded content of the violent event involving conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. The appeal was lodged by Elon Musk's company X, which contested an order sought by the national eSafety commissioner.

Background on the Case and Ban

Following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at a US campus in September, the regulator applied to the classification board to officially classify the available footage. It first determined the content was "unable to be classified", a designation that empowered the regulator to order platforms to geo-block the posts for users in Australia.

The platform X filed an appeal for a pair of videos depicting the Kirk incident. Additionally, it contested a similar ruling on a separate video—depicting the assault of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte—which had also been deemed "refused classification".

The Platform's Case and Board's Decision

Arguing its case, X contended that the Kirk video contained only a short moment of violence with no visible weapon. The company noted the footage was grainy and the focus shifted rapidly from the victim to the surrounding crowd.

The social media giant maintained the footage was not excessively detailed, exploitative, or offensive, stating it served as a neutral objective record of "a notorious public event of historical and political significance that prompted extensive public discourse". The platform even compared the video and the historic film of the JFK shooting.

The majority of the review board concluded that, "notwithstanding the heinous nature of the event," the content did not reach a level that was gratuitous, exploitative or offensive enough to justify a complete ban. The board suggested that a longer or clearer version with different editing might have resulted in a different ruling. Consequently, the board revised the rating of the content to R18+.

A Dissenting Viewpoint

Some on the panel disagreed, arguing the post was "content designed for sharing for the probable aim of entertainment and/or benefit (such as likes, shares, or views)". They also argued the comparison to the JFK assassination tape was invalid, as the Kennedy video was made public years after the assassination, "after public sentiment around the matter had subsided".

Response Following the Decision

In a statement on its global government affairs account, the platform expressed approval of the decision.

"X fought this decision to uphold free speech and the importance of public access about matters of public significance. We remain committed to safeguarding these fundamental values."

Representatives for the safety regulator acknowledged the ruling, but noted that the revised classification now implies platforms "have obligations to ensure R18+ material being displayed to Australians under 18".

Recent Developments on Sensitive Footage

Separately, the regulator has not issued formal notices to platforms this week regarding disturbing videos from the recent Bondi beach terror attack shared across social media. The regulator stated that while the images were upsetting, they had not met the high threshold for a "total ban" rating.

As an alternative, the companies have been advised to apply warning labels and interstitials, such as obscuring the image, on such content in line with their own content policies.