The Perth District Court on Thursday convicted a 19-year-old man for sharing Islamic State beheading videos online via social media. The conviction, followed by a sentence of three years imprisonment, marks the first since the enactment of Australia’s new counterterrorism laws in 2024.
According to the Australian Federal Police, the content found on the man’s phone consisted of violent Islamic State-produced videos, audio recordings stating intent and encouragement for violence, as well as online conversations involving violence and contempt towards people based on their religious beliefs or ethnicity.
The offence, which is outlined in section 474.45B of the Criminal Code, criminalizes the use of a carriage service to access, transmit or publish violent extremist material, amongst other things and carries a maximum sentence of five years.
The conviction comes as Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant issued legal notices to Google, Meta, X, WhatsApp, Telegram and Reddit on Wednesday, requiring them to report on the steps they are taking to protect Australians from terrorist and violent extremist material and activity.
As the eSafety Commissioner stated, regarding the companies that received legal notices:
All of them have evidence that has shown us that these are the primary platforms where terrorist and violent extremism is being hosted, shared or used to amplify pro-terror propaganda … Transparency and accountability are essential for ensuring the online industry is meeting the community’s expectations by protecting the users from these harms.
Enacted on January 8, 2024, the amended offense intended to prevent the radicalization of young people, as extremist groups increasingly make use of the internet to recruit, spread propaganda and incite violence.
Following the amendments, the President of the Law Council of Australia, Greg McIntyre SC, emphasized the need to balance freedom of expression, a crucial component to Australia’s character as a liberal democratic society and the rule of law, with laws aimed at preventing radicalisation, violence and incitement to hatred. He added that the prosecution is tasked with exercising its prosecutorial discretion to ensure that interference with free speech is proportionate.
According to Australia’s prosecution policy, the prosecution may only proceed if there is a reasonable prospect to secure a conviction and pursuing the prosecution is in the public interest. One relevant factor is “the necessity to maintain public confidence in the rule of law and the administration of justice through the institutions of democratic governance.”
Notably, there has been a growing trend amongst social media companies in recent times towards the relaxation of content moderation policies in pursuit of free expression for their users. For example, on 7 January 2025, Meta announced that it would reduce content regulation on its US platforms, whilst still aiming to maintain focus on extreme violations of their policies, like terrorism-related content.
