Commissioner

• Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has ordered social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to remove graphic videos of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney last week from the site.
• In response to this order, X’s owner, Elon Musk, has branded the commissioner the “Australian censorship commissar”.
• Read more:
  Why is the Sydney church stabbing an act of terrorism, but the Bondi tragedy isn't?

Prompt political fallout

• Labor minister Tanya Plibersek referred to Musk as an “egotistical billionaire”.
• Of course such damning remarks directed towards a much-maligned website and its equally controversial owner are to be expected.

What do federal laws say?

• The power she exercised under part nine of that act was to issue a “removal notice”.
• The removal notice requires a social media platform to take down material that would be refused classification under the Classification Act.
• While it’s these laws being applied in the case against X, there are other laws that can come into play.
• It is a variation of this bill, reflecting the substantial range of views on the draft, that now has bipartisan support.

What else could be done?

Perhaps the gruesome images in the Wakeley videos might remind some of the Christchurch massacre. In that attack, Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone (now part of TPG), cut access to sites such as 4Chan, which were disseminating video of the attack. This was without any prompting from either the eSafety Commissioner or from law enforcement agencies.

• She would need to be satisfied the material depicts abhorrent violent conduct and be satisfied the availability of the material online is likely to cause significant harm to the Australian community.
• This means the commissioner could give a blocking notice to telcos which would have to block X for as long as the abhorrent material is available on the X platform.
• This would be a breach of the terrorism prohibitions under the federal Criminal Code.

Rob Nicholls receives funding from the Australian Research Council for the International Digital Policy Observatory.

• The Federal Trade Commission today issued a report to Congress detailing the FTC’s law enforcement cooperation with state attorneys general (AGs) nationwide and presenting best practices to ensure continued effective collaboration.
• The report, directed by the FTC Collaboration Act of 2021, “Working Together to Protect Consumers: A Study and Recommendations on FTC Collaboration with the State Attorneys General” makes legislative recommendations that would enhance these efforts, including reinstating the Commission’s authority to seek money for defrauded consumers and providing it with the independent authority to seek civil penalties.
• The report is divided into three sections: 1) The FTC’s Existing Collaborative Efforts with State Attorneys General to Prevent, Publicize, and Penalize Frauds and Scams; 2) Recommended Best Practices to Enhance Collaboration; and 3) Legislative Recommendations to Enhance Collaboration Efforts.
• Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

• EcoGraf Limited (“EcoGraf” or the “Company”) (ASX: EGR; FSE: FMK; OTCQB: ECGFF) advises that the delegate of the Australian Commissioner of Patents has issued findings in favour of opposition raised to the Company’s Australian patent application, filed on 1 November 2022 and entitled “Method of Producing Purified Graphite”.
• For full details refer:
  EcoGraf is considering its position in relation to the matter, specifically whether or not it intends to file amendments to overcome the deficiencies identified by the delegate in the Company’s Australian patent application and/or whether to exercise its right of appeal to the Federal Court.
• The US Patent and Trademark Office has confirmed that the Company’s patent application, filed on 1 November 2022, entitled “Method of Producing Purified Graphite” was granted on 18 July 2023 as US Patent 11,702342 (refer ASX announcement US Patent Granted 19 July 2023).
• The Company’s EcoGraf HFfree™ Australian Product Qualification Facility is being developed with the support of a $2.9m grant provided by the Australian Government under the Critical Minerals Development Program, with commissioning scheduled to commence next month.

• The companies were selected after pitching their innovative ideas and being scored by an advisory panel comprised of industry experts.
• Empire State Development President, CEO, and Commissioner, Hope Knight said, “Congratulations to the latest entrepreneurial companies selected to take part in Luminate NY’s seventh cohort.
• State Senator Jeremy Cooney said, “I’m excited to congratulate the 10 new innovators taking part in the seventh round of the Luminate NY accelerator program.
• I applaud Luminate NY for continuing to promote an important pathway for workforce and economic development by supporting and nurturing startup companies.”
  Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said, “Congratulations to the 10 startups selected for this round of Luminate NY.