Australia seeks to block online livestream of planned U.S. execution

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his government will try to block access in the country to a planned U.S. execution livestream.

The execution of Nidal Hasan is scheduled for December 3 at Fort Hood, Texas, where he killed 13 people in 2009.

A Pentagon official said the execution would be streamed publicly; it is set to be the first U.S. military firing-squad execution since 1945.

Australia’s internet regulator says it lacks the power to stop the stream, and Albanese acknowledged that blocking it would not be simple.

He said the government would make clear to social media companies that the livestream has no place in Australia.

The plans have drawn criticism in the United States and internationally, including from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said livestreaming an execution would breach the prohibition on torture.

The Australian government says it will pursue any available steps, but the sources do not say what action it will take or whether it can prevent people in Australia from viewing the stream.