'These aren't just words': The woman threatened for taking X to court

Julie Inman Grant, who is the eSafety Commissioner of Australia, has recently faced a troubling situation after trying to hold the social media platform X accountable for its actions. Earlier this year, she took X to court because the platform refused to remove videos that depicted a violent incident motivated by religious beliefs. After her legal action, she became the target of a significant amount of online abuse, including threats to her life and her family's safety. This situation escalated when Elon Musk, the owner of X, referred to her as the 'censorship commissar' in a post that reached his 196 million followers. Following this, Julie reported receiving an overwhelming amount of hateful messages, which included dehumanizing slurs and derogatory terms aimed at her. A study conducted on technology-facilitated gender-based violence highlighted that Julie was mentioned in nearly 74,000 posts on X, most of which were negative or threatening. Julie expressed her concern about the impact of Musk's words, stating that they acted as a 'dog whistle' to his followers, inciting them to attack her online. The threats she received were serious enough that Australian police advised her against traveling to the United States. In addition to the threats against her, the personal information of her children and family members was shared online, a practice known as doxxing. Julie emphasized that these threats were not just hurtful words but posed a real danger to her and her loved ones. She had to involve both federal and local police to ensure her safety and had to change her daily routines to avoid potential harm. Julie's role as the eSafety Commissioner is to protect people online, and she has the authority to regulate content that is deemed violent or sexually exploitative. When X chose to geoblock the violent videos instead of removing them, Julie sought a court injunction to force the company to comply with Australian laws. However, the case became a significant test of Australia's ability to enforce its online regulations against large social media companies. Ultimately, a Federal Court judge ruled that it would not be reasonable to ban the posts globally, as other countries might ignore or reject such actions. In June, Julie's office decided not to pursue the case further and instead focus on other legal matters against X. The Global Government Affairs team at X celebrated the outcome as a victory for 'freedom of speech', but Julie's experience highlights the challenges faced by those who seek to ensure safety and accountability in the online world.