Commissioner Responds to Christian Stabbing, Emphasizing the Police’s Role as the ‘Source of Truth’
Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is considering reaching out to Google to limit the amount of content Australians can access.
New South Wales (NSW) Police Commissioner Karen Webb has cautioned the public that the “source of truth” will be the police, not social media and misinformation.
This warning follows the arrest of a 16-year-old teenager for an alleged Commonwealth terrorism offense related to the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a Sydney church on April 15.
Webb emphasized the presence of “misinformation” on social media and urged people not to share such information, directing them to official police sources for accurate updates.
If NSW Police have credible information about any risks or threats to the community, they will notify the public.
“We will share that with the community. So please be assured that police will be the source of truth, and not social media and misinformation,” Webb stated.
eSafety Commissioner Issues Orders to X and Meta
Meanwhile, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has mandated social media platforms to remove graphic footage of recent stabbing incidents.
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This directive includes the recent church incident and the stabbing rampage at Bondi Junction shopping centre in eastern Sydney on April 13.
Ms. Grant cautioned that if social media platforms do not comply by removing the content, she may involve search engines like Google or Bing to limit the content accessible to Australians.
If they fail to remove the content, then we can go to search engines such as Google or Bing to really minimise the amount of content the Australians can see,” Ms. Grant addressed the media in a press conference.
The eSafety Commissioner is authorized to issue fines or initiate civil proceedings in court if necessary, Ms. Grant explained.
“While the majority of mainstream social media platforms have engaged with us, I am not satisfied enough is being done to protect Australians from this most extreme and gratuitous violent material circulating online.
“That is why I am exercising my powers under the Online Safety Act to formally compel them to remove it.”
Additionally, Ms. Grant expressed concerns about terrorists and violent extremists exploiting generative AI technology to cause harm, citing a report from a UN-backed organization.
“Earlier this month, the UN-backed Tech against Terrorism reported that it had identified users of an Islamic State forum comparing the attributes of Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft’s Copilot,” she said.
Labor Government Weighs in on ‘Misinformation’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted the issue of “misinformation” in media interviews following the Bondi stabbing attack.
