Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino would not condemn a decision by the US government to livestream a firing squad execution in December after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said he would ensure the public could watch it.
The execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring dozens more in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, will be the first execution by military firing squad since World War II. It was approved by US President Donald Trump last week.
“I don’t want to comment on the domestic politics of any other country when it comes to matters like this,” Mulino told ABC Radio National this morning.
“In terms of the specifics of whether or not this should be shown on social media, that we’ve been leaning in more generally on protections in that place. One of the things I think we need to grapple with is that we need to walk a fine line with social media between imposing protections where appropriate and making sure that people have the freedom to express themselves. This is a difficult balance at times.”
The Greens have called on the government to take whatever action is necessary to block the livestreaming of the execution from being available to watch in Australia.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called the decision to stream the execution “incredibly shocking and barbaric”.
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