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IPFS News Link • Australia

Elon Musk, Australia's eSafety Commissioner: X owner takes another swipe at Prime Minister...

• https://www.dailymail.co, By DAVID SOUTHWELL

Elon Musk has hit back at Anthony Albanese as the pair continue to spar over the Australian government's attempt to force the American tech billionaire to remove graphic content from his social media platform X.

X, formerly Twitter, was ordered by the Federal Court late on Monday to block all users from viewing footage related to an alleged terror attack by a 16-year-old boy on an Assyrian bishop during a live-streamed service in a western Sydney church on April 15.

The company said it had temporarily complied with the order in Australia while it fights it in court - but argued a global takedown order violates the principle of free speech - a point which has been hammered home by billionaire Musk. 

A failure to comply with a court's ruling to remove posts could see X fined almost $800,000 a day and executives be held in contempt of court.

On Tuesday, Musk shared a post stating Mr Albanese had given X free advertising after the prime minister said it was the only social media platform that hadn't bowed to demands by Australia's eSafety commissioner.

'I'd like to take a moment to thank the PM for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one,' Mr Musk said.

'Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian "eSafety Commissar" is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet,' Mr Musk said.

'We have already censored the content in question for Australia, pending legal appeal, and it is stored only on servers in the USA.

'Should the eSafety Commissar (an unelected official) in Australia have authority over all countries on Earth?'


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