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In a notable regulatory appeal, a national review panel has reversed a earlier ruling that blocked viewers in Australia from seeing recorded content of the violent event involving conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. The appeal was initiated by Elon Musk's social media platform, which contested an directive sought by the national eSafety commissioner.

Details of the Case and Ban

Following the death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in September, the regulator applied to the review board to officially classify the available footage. The board initially ruled the content was "unable to be classified", a rating that allowed the regulator to instruct social media companies to restrict access to the posts for an Australian audience.

The platform X challenged the decision for a pair of videos depicting the Kirk incident. It also appealed a similar ruling on another piece of footage—showing the attack on Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina train—which had also been deemed "unacceptable for distribution".

The Platform's Case and Final Ruling

Arguing its case, X asserted that the Kirk video contained only a short moment of violence with the weapon not shown. It was argued the recording was low-quality and the focus shifted rapidly from the individual to the surrounding crowd.

X maintained the footage was not excessively detailed, exploitative, or offensive, adding that it served as a neutral objective record of "a significant incident of public importance that generated extensive public discourse". X drew a parallel between the footage and the historic film of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Most members 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 warrant a 'refused classification' rating. However, they noted that a more detailed depiction with different editing might have met that threshold. As a result, the board revised the classification of the content to R18+.

The Minority Viewpoint

A minority on the panel disagreed, contending the post was "a shareable video for the likely purposes of entertainment and/or personal gain (such as likes, shares, or views)". This view stated the parallel with the Zapruder JFK film was invalid, as the Kennedy video was made public years after the event, "once emotions regarding it had subsided".

Response Following the Outcome

In a statement on its official policy channel, X welcomed the ruling.

"We challenged this decision to uphold freedom of expression and the importance of public access about issues of public interest. We remain committed to protecting these principles."

Representatives for the safety regulator also welcomed the ruling, but pointed out that the new R18+ rating now means platforms "have obligations to ensure R18+ material is not accessible to users under 18".

Broader Context on Violent Content

In related news, the regulator has not issued formal notices to social media companies this week regarding graphic footage from the Sydney beach incident circulating on social media. The regulator stated that while the images were distressing, they had not met the required standard for a "total ban" rating.

Instead, the companies have been instructed to use sensitive content labels and interstitials, such as blurring, on this material in accordance with their existing community guidelines.