Australia's online safety regulator eSafety says it does not have the powers to "proactively prevent" the live stream of a firing squad execution in the United States from being shown in Australia, but argues platforms have a responsibility to protect users from harmful content.
Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at a military base in Texas in 2009, would be available for the public to watch.
Across the political divide in Canberra there has been widespread concern about Australians seeing the December 3 live stream.
ESafety said there are limits to its powers.
"While eSafety does not have powers to proactively prevent a live stream from occurring online, online services have responsibilities under Australia's online safety regulatory framework to protect users from harmful material," a 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."
Experts agreed eSafety's power was more geared towards being able to take down content rather than pre-emptively blocking it.
Government says Australians 'rightly expect' to not see live stream
The ABC has contacted Google, Meta and TikTok to see if they have plans to restrict the content, but has not received responses.
The federal government said Australians "rightly expect" the content would not appear on their screens, and platforms have a responsibility to meet those expectations.
"Vision of an execution being live streamed here would be deeply distressing to many Australians," a government spokesperson said.
"No-one should be confronted with it, particularly younger Australians".
Tim Wilson said Australia "shouldn't be promoting that sort of violence". (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
The government's response followed Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young writing to the communications minister and eSafety commissioner, demanding they "take whatever action is necessary" to block the "barbaric" event from being shown in Australia.
One Nation's Barnaby Joyce said it was "Roman amphitheatre stuff" that he did not want anyone to witness, while Liberal Tim Wilson said it was "enormously problematic" and Australia "shouldn't be promoting that sort of violence".
Expert says it highlights need for Digital Duty of Care
Media Lecturer at Swinburne University Dr Belinda Barnet believed the most the eSafety commissioner could do was issue take down notices, like was done in the case of a Sydney church stabbing in 2024.
"I don't see how they can take pre-emptive action," she said.
Belinda Barnet said the most the eSafety commissioner could do was issue take down notices. (Supplied)
Dr Barnet acknowledged though that take down powers are limited because content can run away as soon as it exists online.
"It's just a Band-Aid solution but we don't have a lot else in our armoury,"
she said.
Dr Barnet said it highlighted the need for the government's Digital Duty of Care Bill which is being introduced into parliament this week, as it will require platforms to take steps to reduce the risk of harm to users on their sites.
"At the moment there is no onus on the platforms to protect all of us in Australia from what you could call harmful content," Dr Barnet said.
Government facing calls to make representations to US over death penalty
It is Australian policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances for all people, which includes supporting the universal abolition of the death penalty.
Monash University lecturer and vice president of the Capital Punishment Justice Project, Sara Kowal, said Australian officials should be telling the United States, whether it is publicly or privately, that they oppose the death penalty.
"This would be a perfect example of a case where the Australian government should be making strong representations to the Trump administration," she said.
Iran and Afghanistan are among the few countries that still carry out public executions.
"It's really abhorrent to see the United States trying to join this club,"
Ms Kowal said.
At the weekend, US President Donald Trump said he had not yet made a final decision about live streaming the execution.