X said it had already blocked the posts from Australian users, but Australia’s e-safety commissioner had said the content should be taken down since it showed explicit violence.
“Does the PM think he should have jurisdiction over all of Earth?”
Musk posted a meme on the platform that showed X stood for “free speech and truth” while other social media platforms represented “censorship and propaganda.”
Last month, a U.S. judge threw out a lawsuit by X against the hate speech watchdog, Center for Countering Digital Hate.
In Australia, the e-safety commissioner fined X the equivalent of $540,000 Cdn last year for failing to co-operate with a probe on anti-child abuse practices; X is fighting that penalty in court.
Although Musk wrote in another post that X had “blocked the content in question for Australian IP addresses,” the video could be seen on the platform by a Reuters journalist in Australia.
An Australian senator also reposted the video on his X account.
Meta said it was removing posts containing “any glorification or praise” of the incidents.
Following a court order for his social media company X to remove footage of an alleged terrorist attack in Sydney, Elon Musk attacked Australia’s prime minister on Tuesday, claiming that the ruling meant any nation could control “the entire internet.”. “.”.
In an overnight hearing, the Federal Court of Australia ordered X, the former name for Twitter, to conceal posts containing video of the earlier this month incident in which a teenager was accused of terrorism after he and other people were stabbed by an Assyrian priest.
Although X claimed to have already blocked Australian users from accessing the posts, the country’s e-safety commissioner recommended that the content be removed due to its graphic depictions of violence.
“Does the PM believe he should have authority over the entire planet?” Musk asked in a post, addressing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The billionaire, who purchased X in 2022 with the stated goal of preserving free speech, despite the fact that some organizations contend that the rise in offensive material on the platform has driven away some sponsors. On X, Musk shared a meme that said some social media platforms stood for “censorship and propaganda” and others for “free speech and truth.”. “.”.
Additionally, Musk penned, “What is to stop any country from controlling the entire internet if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, as the Australian ‘eSafety Commissar’ is demanding?”.
“Billionaire with arrogance.”.
In the struggle for greater control over the content hosted on their platforms, the world’s biggest internet companies are facing off against nations, nonprofit organizations, and governments on a new front created by this pushback.
One month ago, a U. S. The judge dismissed X’s lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a watchdog group that tracks hate speech.
In Australia, X was fined $540,000 Cdn by the e-safety commissioner last year for not cooperating with an investigation into anti-child abuse practices; X is currently contesting the penalty in court.
Aimed at Musk, Albanese responded by threatening to “do whatever it takes to take on this arrogant billionaire who thinks he’s above the law, but also above common decency.”. “.”.
“The notion that an individual would file a lawsuit to obtain permission to post violent content on a platform demonstrates how disconnected Mr. Musk is,” Albanese stated to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Still accessible in Australia.
E-safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s spokesperson stated that the takedown notice did not apply to “commentary, public debate or other posts about this event, even those which may link to extreme violent content.” Rather, it was only for the attack footage. “.
The spokesperson continued, “E-safety requires platforms to do everything practical and reasonable to minimize the harm it may cause to Australians and the Australian community, even though it may be difficult to eradicate damaging content from the internet entirely.”.
The video was visible on the platform for an Australian-based Reuters journalist, despite Musk’s claim in a different post that X had “blocked the content in question for Australian IP addresses.”. Additionally, the video was reposted by an Australian senator on his X account.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, said on Tuesday that it had employed “internal tools” to find and remove copies of the videos from the church attack and the unrelated, fatal stabbing that occurred two days earlier at a Sydney shopping center.
Posts that contained “any glorification or praise” of the incidents would be removed, according to Meta.
Alice Dawkins, executive director of the nonprofit organization Reset that advocates for internet policy. According to Tech Australia, Musk’s remarks are consistent with “the company’s chaotic and negligent approach to the most basic user safety considerations that the platform used to take seriously under previous leadership.”. “.
