Australia: Albanese Denounces Musk in Censorship Row

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Facts

• The Federal Court in Sydney has temporarily granted Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant's demand that social media platform X, formerly Twitter, block worldwide access to video footage of the knife attack on a Christian bishop in Sydney.¹
• The Elon Musk-owned company on Friday agreed to take the video down in Australia but not globally, stating that it would challenge the broader demand in court. It also said it was threatened with a $500K daily fine for not abiding by the order.²
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Musk an 'arrogant billionaire' who 'thinks he’s above the law' and 'common decency.' Musk replied, 'Does the PM think he should have jurisdiction over all of Earth?'³
• A spokesperson for the eSafety commissioner said the order only applies to 'video of the violent stabbing attack' but not 'commentary, public debate or other posts about this event.' Platforms Google, Microsoft, Snap, TikTok, and Meta have already complied.⁴
• Since passing its Online Safety Act in 2021, Australia has focused on holding tech companies responsible for the content they host for years. The government has blamed the video's circulation for the riots outside the church where the attack occurred.¹
• This is also the second dispute between Musk and government officials in recent weeks. Earlier this month, he refused to comply with Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes's order to take down certain X accounts.⁵

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Forbes, ³Washington Post, ⁴wsj.com and ⁵New York Post.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. Elon Musk, who has banned the accounts of several journalists who criticized him, is clearly not a free speech warrior. What he actually is is an executive willing to broadcast violent content to satisfy a fan base — even if it violates common decency and Australian law. Musk chose to take over a global platform, which means he must now account for the rules and laws prescribed to it by people who disagree with his definition of free speech.
• Right narrative, as provided by Skynews. Elon Musk's definition of free speech has given all people — no matter what government tries to censor them — access to videos of current events so they can decide what content they do and don't consume. It's the unelected eSafety Commissioner — who also happens to be a disgruntled former Twitter employee — who wants to impose her woke agenda. Australia is being run by cynical authoritarians, but Musk has chosen to fight back.
• Cynical narrative, as provided by abc.net.au. This tit-for-tat between a billionaire and a prime minister is disingenuous on both sides. While Australia's legal system seeks to develop a thoughtful adjudication on this matter, Musk and Albanese have chosen to butt heads over who's more powerful. The debate over online content is one of the most pressing of our time, but corporate and government entities are using the issue to gain popularity within their respective audiences.

Predictions