Australian Prime Minister Criticizes Elon Musk as ‘Arrogant Billionaire’ for Comments on Government’s Internet Control Efforts in Response to Stabbing Videos
Australia’s prime minister criticized Elon Musk as an “arrogant billionaire who believes he is above the law” for not removing footage of last week’s Church stabbing from X.
In response, Elon Musk thanked him “for highlighting that this platform is the only truthful one”.
The conflict arose after a series of legal battles and public disputes between X and the Australian government.
What is the issue?
Subsequently, videos of the stabbing started circulating on social media. The Australian eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, specifically requested Meta and X to remove them.
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a live stream of his church service
The footage was classified under Australian law as ‘class 1’ material, depicting gratuitous or offensive violence with a high level of impact or detail.
Meta complied and removed the videos from their platforms when instructed, as opposed to X, which made a decision to challenge the request.
X did restrict the videos in Australia, but the Australian government’s eSafety sector argued that this was inadequate since the content was still accessible globally.
Discussion on ‘control’ of the internet
Elon Musk has now accused the eSafety commissioner, whom he previously referred to as the “censorship commissioner”, of wanting to control the internet.
“Our concern is if ANY nation is given the right to censor content for ALL nations, what is to prevent any country from managing the entire Internet?” he remarked on X.
During media appearances, Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, entered the fray.
He informed the Australian Broadcasting Company that the country was determined to “take on this arrogant billionaire who believes he is above the law, as well as above common decency”.
He described Elon Musk as “a man who has opted for ego and aggression over common sense” in an interview with Sky News Australia.
“Australians will be astounded when they learn that this billionaire is prepared to go to court, fighting for the right to promote division and show distressing violent videos,” he remarked.
Additionally, he confirmed that other platforms had taken down the videos.
In return, Mr. Musk posted an image depicting a ‘road to freedom’ with X at the end.
“Don’t just take my word for it, ask the Australian PM!” he stated.
