The federal government has urged online platforms to prevent Australians from viewing a planned US military execution broadcast, drawing further condemnation from politicians on both sides of the aisle.
What we know:
- US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that on 3 December the US government would execute Nidal Malik Hasan, a former US Army major who killed 13 people and wounded dozens more in a 2009 shooting at a military facility in Texas. Hegseth also said the execution would be in public and available to watch online (SBS).
- “Vision of an execution being livestreamed here would be deeply distressing to many Australians. No one should be confronted with it, particularly younger Australians,” said a spokesperson for the Albanese government (The Guardian).
- Their statement did not outline a penalty for hosting such content, or any proactive steps to prevent its broadcast (The Guardian).
- Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young wrote to Communications Minister Anika Wells and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant on Monday calling for them to do whatever it takes to stop footage of the “abhorrent” firing squad from being available in Australia (The Age).
- One Nation Senator Barnaby Joyce called the prospect of a livestreamed execution “Roman amphitheatre stuff”. “I certainly don’t want any children, or anybody to be honest, to witness another human being… shot by a firing squad,” he said (The Age).
- US Department of Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin defended the planned livestream on Sunday. He said: “I think people need to understand that if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime” (BBC).