Australia's eSafety Commissioner has withdrawn legal action against Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, over its refusal to globally remove content related to the Sydney church stabbing.

The @eSafetyOffice must be shut down, and those responsible for its administration should be let go, and ideally investigated. The waste of money and resources by the regulator is undeniable, and serious questions need to be raised if the personal vendetta of the commissioner in… https://t.co/IHVVYYdRX1

— Rukshan Fernando (@therealrukshan) June 5, 2024

The controversial eSafety office initiated proceedings in the Federal Court after X, formerly known as Twitter, resisted complying with a worldwide order to remove the attack-related content.

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

Initially, X Corp agreed to geoblock the content, limiting access within Australia, but argued that the government did not have the jurisdiction to enforce a global ban.

Although a court date had been set, eSafety commissioner Julia Inman Grant announced that the legal proceedings would be discontinued.

Great news, #eKaren loses.

Go away #eKaren. Don't come back.

You don't enjoy the support of the Australian people.@AlboMP loses again.

Good.#auspolhttps://t.co/j3OQfd835J

— Matthew Camenzuli (@Matt_Camenzuli) June 5, 2024

In an official statement, eSafety indicated it would "consolidate action concerning" what it referred to as class 1 content in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

"We now welcome the opportunity for a thorough and independent merits review of my decision to issue a removal notice to X Corp by the tribunal," Inman Grant stated.

"Our primary aim in issuing our removal notice was to prevent this extremely violent footage from spreading, which could potentially incite further violence and cause additional harm to the Australian community. I fully support my investigators and the decisions eSafety has made."

Another win for free speech.

But the battle to restore common sense to the esafety commission must continue! https://t.co/kOWAxSeiB6

— Senator Matt Canavan (@mattjcan) June 5, 2024

The watchdog claims it believes discontinuing the legal action would likely result in the 'most favourable outcome for the online safety of all Australians, particularly children.'