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Following a notable legal reversal, the Australian classification review board has overturned a prior decision that prevented Australian-based users from accessing video footage of the shooting incident involving influencer Charlie Kirk. The appeal was lodged by Elon Musk's social media platform, arguing against an directive sought by the national eSafety commissioner.

Details of the Original Ban

Following the death of Charlie Kirk at a US campus in last year, the eSafety commissioner applied to the classification board to assess and rate the circulating video. The board first determined the content was "refused classification", a designation that allowed the regulator to instruct platforms to geo-block the posts for users in Australia.

Elon Musk's company filed an appeal for a pair of videos depicting the Kirk incident. It also appealed a comparable ban on another piece of footage—depicting the assault of Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina train—which had also been classified as "unacceptable for distribution".

Arguments Presented and Final Ruling

In its appeal, X asserted that the Kirk video contained only a short moment of violence with the weapon not shown. The company noted the footage was grainy and the camera quickly panned away from the victim to the surrounding crowd.

The social media giant argued the video was not excessively detailed, gratuitous, or objectionable, stating it served as a neutral objective record of "a notorious public event of historical and political significance that generated extensive public discourse". The platform drew a parallel between the video and the historic film of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The majority of the classification panel concluded that, "notwithstanding the heinous nature of the event," the video did not reach a level that was exploitative, gratuitous, or offensive enough to justify a complete ban. However, they noted that a more detailed depiction with alternative commentary could have met that threshold. Consequently, the board revised the rating of the content to R18+.

The Minority Opinion

A minority on the board disagreed, arguing the post was "a shareable video for the likely purposes of amusement and/or personal gain (such as likes, shares, or views)". This view stated the parallel with 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".

Reactions to the Decision

In a statement on its global government affairs account, X expressed approval of the ruling.

"We challenged this decision to uphold free speech and the critical nature of public access about issues of public interest. We remain committed to safeguarding these principles."

Representatives for the safety regulator also welcomed the board's decision, but pointed out that the new R18+ rating now implies platforms "have obligations to ensure R18+ material is not accessible to users who are minors".

Broader Context on Sensitive Footage

Separately, the eSafety commissioner has not issued take-down orders to platforms this week regarding disturbing videos from the recent Bondi beach terror attack shared across social media. Officials commented that while the content were upsetting, they had not met the required standard for a "total ban" rating.

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