Australia powerless to stop US firing squad execution livestream

Australia’s eSafety Commission has admitted it is powerless to prevent the livestream of a firing squad execution in the United States from being played in Australia as the onus is placed on online platforms.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said he wanted the public to watch Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people and injuring dozens more at a military base in 2009, given the death penalty on December 3.

The planned livestream was widely condemned in Canberra with politicians from all aisles calling on the eSafety Commission and Labor to ensure it is not available on Australian screens.

But in a statement overnight, the eSafety Commission said it is unable to stop the livestream but will monitor the situation.

“While eSafety does not have powers to proactively prevent a livestream from occurring online, online services have responsibilities under Australia’s online safety regulatory framework to protect users from harmful material,” an eSafety spokesperson said.

“As the regulator responsible for enforcing these obligations eSafety is in regular contact with online platforms and will continue to monitor the situation, considering any action as appropriate.”

An Australian government spokesperson noted that US President Donald Trump has not made a final decision.

“Vision of an execution being livestreamed here would be deeply distressing to many Australians. No one should be confronted with it, particularly younger Australians,” the spokesperson told nine.com.au.

“Australians rightly expect that the content won’t appear on their screens or in their teenagers’ feeds.

“Platforms have a responsibility to meet those expectations.”

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Labor Minister Murray Watt said the situation was further evidence that Australia needs tougher laws through the digital duty of care to put more responsibility on big tech companies.

“That is all about acknowledging that our current laws don’t put enough responsibility on platforms and big tech to do the right thing by Australians,” he told reporters.

“The rapidly evolving nature of this technology and the new issues that arise from it demonstrate why we need to keep updating our laws to make sure that they can deal with contemporary circumstances.”

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, however, called on the federal government to do more, urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “jump on the phone” with Trump.

“The Australian government needs to pick up the phone to the United States President and to the US administration,” she told the ABC.

“The idea that a state-sanctioned killing would be televised, would be live-streamed as content, almost for entertainment value, as a government PR episode. It is revolting, it is barbaric, and it must be called out.”

Monash University law expert Sara Kowal said the US government’s livestream is “political theatre” designed to provoke fear.

“The Albanese government is right to urge platforms to exercise restraint,” she said.

“Broadcasting executions traumatises viewers and normalises state killing. Public executions are carried out in Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. The United States should not be borrowing from that playbook.”