(Text/Observer Network Guo Guanghao)
Nidal Malik Hassan was sentenced to death for killing 13 people at a military base in Texas, USA, in 2009. Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel announced that the execution process will be made public. The idea of live broadcast of executions in the United States has caused a strong reaction worldwide.
Recently, Australian Prime Minister Albornes severely criticized this move as “outrageous”. Members of different political factions in Australia have also urged the government to “use all available means” to stop this live broadcast.
On Tuesday, local time (October 13th), Albornes said in an interview on the ABC’s “Afternoon Briefing” program that the government would take all possible measures. However, he also admitted that the situation was not as simple as “turning off a light switch”.
He said to ABC: "The two major parties in Australia have always shared a common stance against the death penalty. I think the idea of live-streaming the execution of anyone is utterly unacceptable."
We should do everything we can to stop this from happening.
He said that the government is seeking opinions on the measures that can be taken.
On Monday, the Australian eSafety Commission stated that it was unable to prevent Australians from watching this execution.
An official from the agency told ABC, “Although the Cybersecurity Committee has no authority to prevent live streaming in advance, according to Australia’s cybersecurity regulatory framework, online service platforms have the responsibility to protect users from harmful content.”
Albanes said that he will ‘very clearly’ indicate to social media platforms that such content should not appear in Australia.
He said, “I believe that any platform that broadcasts such images will also damage its own reputation. They have a social responsibility to take the right actions in this matter.”
ABC has contacted Google, Meta and TikTok to inquire about their plans to limit the dissemination of certain content, but no response has been received yet.
When asked whether he had consulted with U.S. President Donald Trump regarding this matter, Albinas said that Trump had previously stated through the media that he was considering whether to carry out a live broadcast.
He said, “President Trump has indicated that he is considering this matter. I also hope that the United States will respond.”
If this live broadcast is eventually carried out, it will be the first time in American history that the execution of a death penalty is broadcast live.
On Tuesday, during a question time session in the Australian Federal Senate, Green Party leader David Shoebridge raised sharp questions about the proposed live execution broadcast to Foreign Minister Yvonne Huy.
He questioned what kind of 'shared values' exist between Australia and a 'government that publicly broadcasts real murder films approved by the state'.
Huang Yingxian said: 'If such a scene is broadcast live, it will be deeply disturbing... We believe that no one should be forced to face such scenes, especially young people in Australia.'
Huang Yingxian stated that Australian citizens have a right to expect such content will not appear on their screens. "We believe that network platforms indeed have a responsibility to meet these expectations."
Opposition party foreign affairs spokesperson Ted O’Brien said that the government must ensure that Australian citizens cannot watch this execution.
He said during an interview for the program "Afternoon Brief" that, “This has deeply troubled me. We absolutely must not let Australia's young people watch executions."
"That would be horrible and disgusting. For this reason, we must consider using all possible means to ensure that this execution is not broadcast live—if it actually happens."
Previously, several prominent figures from Britain, another ally of the United States, also expressed strong disapproval and firm opposition.
British Minister of Equality and the Chair of the Labour Party, Bridget Phillipson, said on the BBC Fourth Channel's 'Today' program that she found this concept 'quite disturbing'.
Philipson emphasized that this decision was made by the U.S. government, and added, “Britain and the United States are close allies. Does this mean that we support everything the U.S. government does? No.”
On October 9th, former UK Minister for Veterans' Affairs Johnny Mercer described the proposed live broadcast as “disgusting and quite bizarre.” This was during an interview with BBC Radio.
He also questioned whether such behavior is in line with the way a 'civilised country' should behave.
European Union Commission Spokesperson Thomas von der Leyen warned major digital platforms on December 12th that they must not broadcast live.
Renier said that according to EU regulations, platforms must 'strictly enforce their own terms and conditions of service'.
He told reporters: "Some platforms have clear regulations in place. Meta explicitly prohibits live executions; both X and TikTok prohibit the dissemination of content that is thrilling or glorifies violence. We do not comment on the practices of these platforms in the United States, but in Europe, the relevant entities have clear legal obligations."
He added that if platforms fail to implement their service terms, the EU will exercise relevant powers under the Digital Services Act. “Therefore, we will ensure that these companies and online platforms comply with these obligations within Europe.”
CBS News reported on the 13th that people familiar with the matter said that Trump administration officials prefer not to broadcast the execution process live.
Several senior Republicans have expressed opposition to live broadcasts. Vice President Vance said that if there are live broadcasts, “I won’t watch them.”
House Speaker Johnson also acknowledged that there were concerns among his colleagues. He added that video slicing could become a tool for terrorist recruitment in the future. Johnson also stated that he would not watch such videos.
