The Australian leader has called Elon Musk an “arrogant billionaire” in an escalating feud over X’s reluctance to remove footage of a knife attack in a church. On Monday, an Australian court ordered Musk’s social media company – formerly known as Twitter – to hide videos of last week’s attack in Sydney.
X had previously said it would comply with the “legal challenge.” The criticism from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came after Musk used a meme to accuse his government of censorship.
Albanese stated on Tuesday that Musk “thinks he’s above the law, but also above common decency.” Last week, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an independent regulator, threatened X and other social media companies with hefty fines if they did not remove videos of the stabbing at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church, which police called a terrorist attack.
X argued that the directive “falls outside the scope of Australian law.” The commissioner sought a court order after saying it was clear that X was allowing users outside Australia to freely access the footage.
“I find it incredible that X has chosen not to comply and is attempting to argue their case,” Albanese said at a press briefing. In a series of online posts that followed, Musk wrote: “I would like to take a moment to thank the Prime Minister for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one.” Another depicted a Wizard of Oz-style path to “freedom” leading to an X logo.
He had earlier also criticized eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant personally, describing her as “Australia’s censorship commissioner.”
Albanese defended Inman Grant, saying she protects Australians. “Social media platforms need to have social responsibility. Musk is not showing any,” he said.
The platform will have 24 hours to comply with the ban from Monday evening, and further hearings on the matter are expected in the coming days.
X and the eSafety commissioner are already involved in legal proceedings over the platform’s alleged failure to provide information on how it monitors and removes materials related to child abuse on the internet.
E.Dz.
