The livestreamed execution of a US prisoner will be “absolutely disgusting”, a senior government minister says, but there’s almost nothing that can be done to stop it from being watched in Australia.
The looming death of Nidal Hasan by firing squad, scheduled for early December, is likely to be streamed around the world for public viewing.
“When I first heard that this was being proposed, I couldn’t believe that it was real,” cabinet minister Murray Watt told ABC Radio National.
“I think all Australians, you know, would agree that this is a very distressing thing to have publicised.”
“I just find the idea of a public streaming of a firing squad execution absolutely disgusting,” he said, while stopping short of confirming the Australian government would call the US about it.
The publicisation of the execution has been ordered by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, one of President Donald Trump’s closest colleagues.
Mr Trump has said he’s still considering whether the US will livestream the execution of Hasan, a former army major and physician who was found guilty of killing 13 people on a military base in 2009.
Australian politicians from across the political spectrum have called for the livestream to be halted.
But the nation’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has no power to stop the video from being shown domestically, instead calling on social media platforms to stop it.
“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.”
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Australian officials should “pick up the phone” to the US, demanding the plan be thwarted.
“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 … is revolting, is barbaric, and must be called out,” she told ABC Radio National.
The issue comes amid a backdrop of broader online safety conversations in Australia, as the government hopes to pass its long-awaited digital duty of care bill this week.
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