Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized Elon Musk calling him an “arrogant billionaire”. This comes in the wake of an escalating feud over the company’s reluctance to remove footage of a church stabbing. The Australian court had ordered the company to hide videos of the attack that took place last week in Sydney. However, the company stated that it would comply “pending a legal challenge”.
Albanese accused Musk of thinking he is “above the law but also above common decency”. The eSafety Commissioner, an independent regulator in Australia, had threatened the company and other social media platforms with hefty fines if they did not remove videos of the stabbing at the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church, which the police have labeled as a terror attack. The company argued that the order is “not within the scope of Australian law”.
The commissioner sought a court injunction after it was clear that the company was allowing users outside Australia to continue accessing the footage. Albanese expressed his astonishment at the company’s decision not to comply and instead argued their case. Musk responded to the criticism with a series of online posts, thanking the Prime Minister for informing the public that his platform is the only truthful one. He also depicted a Wizard of Oz-style path to “freedom” leading to his company’s logo.
Musk also criticized eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant personally, describing her as the “Australian censorship commissar”. Albanese defended Inman Grant, stating that she was protecting Australians and emphasized that “social media needs to have social responsibility with it”, accusing Musk of showing none. The injunction will be in place until the close of business on Wednesday, with a second hearing due to take place. The company and the eSafety Commissioner are already involved in legal proceedings over the platform’s alleged failure to provide information on how it tracks and removes child abuse material online.
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