X Faces Legal Action over Islamophobic Tweets in Australia
A Muslim advocacy group in Australia has urged the Queensland authorities to take legal action against X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for allowing far-right accounts to post Islamophobic tweets.
The Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (Aman) said that the tweets harmed local Muslims and violated the state's anti-discrimination laws, The Guardian reported.
Aman's lawyer, Ron Merkel, told the Queensland Human Rights Commission that X had failed to act against accounts that incited hatred toward Muslims.
He said that the courts had the power to restrain illegal conduct that occurred in Australia, regardless of where the company was based. He cited 419 data-x-items of evidence, including 29 tweets that incited hatred.
X's lawyer, Nichols Owens, argued that the complaint was "completely misconceived" and that X was a "true foreign entity" with no presence or responsibility in Australia. He said that X was not subject to Queensland legislation and that the commission had no jurisdiction over it.
The commission rejected X's argument and said that a foreign person was not immune from Queensland legislation in respect of things that occurred in Queensland. It said that X's service was available and operated within Queensland and that it was likely to be required to comply with Queensland legislation.
The complaint by Aman is the first of its kind in Australia and could have implications for other social media platforms that host hateful content. Aman said that it wanted to hold X accountable for its role in spreading Islamophobia and to protect the rights and dignity of Australian Muslims.
Source: Agencies
