eSafety Commissioner v X Corp [2024] FCA 499
The eSC gave a notice seeking to force X (Twitter) to block globally a violent video10. If not blocked, Australians might access the video via VPNs. This raised how far domestic law may reach into the global sphere consistent with the ‘comity of nations’.
Kennett J (at [49-51]) explained that local laws are not interpreted to deal with things where jurisdiction properly belongs to another sovereign state11. The notice here would affect X’s activities in all places it has servers. Effectively, the eSC ‘would be deciding what users of social media services throughout the world were allowed to see on those services’. The eSC, therefore, could not enforce global blocking.
This principle is from Episode 110 of interpretation NOW!
Footnotes:
10 s 109 of the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) – church stabbing incident.
11 Impiombato [2022] HCA 33 [27-31], Barcelo (1932) 48 CLR 391 (424).