A social media boss has said it would be “tyrannical overreach” to remove a video of a “horrific” stabbing which was watched by Axel Rudakubana on the morning of the Southport attack.
Rudakubana, then aged 17, searched social media site X for a video of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel six minutes before he left home on July 29 last year.
The teenager murdered Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and attempted to kill 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
X’s head of global government affairs Deanna Romina Khananisho told the Southport Inquiry on Tuesday she was “passionate” about a “free speech mission”.
Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked whether by showing the video of the suspected terrorist attack, which happened as the bishop’s sermon was being livestreamed at a church in Sydney, X risked promoting it.
Ms Khananisho, who gave evidence over a video link, agreed the footage showed a “horrific incident”.
But, she said she had been watching the sermon live as the attack happened and “saw a miracle unfold”.
She said: “People saw a monster.
“I saw an angel protecting Mar Mari.”
She added: “I actually see hope. I actually see faith. I actually see forgiveness.
“I do watch that video and I watch it for those reasons.
“For you to take that away from me under the guise of safety that isn’t justice, that’s tyrannical overreach.”
The inquiry was told X, which Rudakubana is thought to have had a number of accounts on, allowed children over 13 to set up an account but there were extra restrictions on accounts of under-18s.
However, in July 2024 age was simply verified by users entering their date of birth.
Ms Khananisho said: “Frankly, it wouldn’t matter how many protections we have in place, at the end of the day, if somebody is determined to find the content they would find the content on any platform.”
The inquiry is expected to hear from Rudakubana’s older brother, Dion, on Tuesday afternoon.
