The Australian government’s attempts to control online speech have become a farce after its “world’s first” eSafety Commissioner admitted he was effectively powerless to stop people from re-sharing “banned” posts.
On Tuesday, Daily Mail Australia revealed that the Australian government attempted to force a Canadian man named Chris Elston to remove an “offensive” post about a UN trans expert, threatening X owner Elon Musk with an $800,000 fine. if it was not removed from the platform.
Mr. Elston, who His name is ‘Billboard Chris’ in X and he lives in Canada refused to remove the post.
When X subsequently complied with the ‘takedown order’ by geo-blocking the post in Australia, Elston simply reshared the offending post.
In a colossal setback for the eSafety Commissioner, that post alone has been viewed more than 130,000 times and a concerted campaign to get others to reshare it has racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
In response to this publication’s story, Billionaire X owner Musk said: “Where is the world coming?”
Chris Elston (pictured above), who goes by ‘Billboard Chris’ on ‘offensive’. about trans expert Teddy Cook (pictured below). He refused to delete it and reshared it, which has since been viewed thousands of times.
In the photo, Teddy Cook, UN trans expert
Now, the taxpayer-funded eSafety Commissioner led by Julie Inman Grant (pictured), who receives a salary of almost $445,000, has admitted that she can only block or remove subsequent posts if the offended party makes further complaints. .
Now the taxpayer-funded eSafety Commissioner has admitted that he can only block or remove subsequent posts if the offended party makes further complaints.
“The eSafety adult cyber abuse scheme is a complaints-based scheme,” a spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner told Daily Mail Australia.
“In cases where a new version of material has been posted after a takedown notice has been issued and complied with, we require a new complaint from the targeted Australian resident, or someone authorized to report on their behalf, for action. regulatory”.
In practice, this means that the “world’s first online safety regulator” could find itself involved in an endless game of whack-a-mole as it tries to control online speech.
Political figures lined up to condemn the alleged waste of Australian taxpayers’ money.
‘Where is the world coming?’ commented X owner Elon Musk in the original Daily Mail Australia story (pictured below)
David Limbrick, MP for the South East Metropolitan District in Victoria, accused the regulator of bringing “our nation” into disrepute.
‘I want to be proud to be Australian. “I want Australia to be a beacon of freedom in the world,” Limbrick wrote.
‘Instead, the world laughs at our stupidity. We need to move towards the defense of freedom.”
Meanwhile, independent Liberal MP Moira Deeming described the eSafety Commissioner as the “Ministry of Truth”, in reference to George Orwell’s novel 1984.
“We reject his Orwellian dystopia,” Ms. Deeming added.
According to its latest annual report, the eSafety Commissioner and the Australian Communications and Media Authority employ almost 500 public servants.
The eSafety Commissioner praises itself as the “first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online.”
Is led by former Twitter Public Policy Director for Australia and Southeast Asia, Julie Inman-Grant, who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000.
Ms. Grant, an American who began her career working in the US Congress, worked at Microsoft for 17 years, eventually rising to the position of Global Director of Security and Privacy Policy and Disclosure before joining Twitter.
In January 2022, the Australian Government reappointed her to a new five-year term in her role as eSafety Commissioner.
In a colossal counterattack for the eSafety Commissioner, Mr Elston’s new post has been viewed more than 130,000 times and a concerted campaign to get others to reshare it has racked up hundreds of thousands of views (post is pictured , as described in the eSafety Commissioner’s ‘takedown notice’)
Ms. Grant is part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition for Digital SecurityExternal link and, in 2020, was named by the Davos-based organization as one of the world’s most influential leaders in revolutionizing government.
The Australian Free Speech Union has written to Ms Inman-Grant personally to demand the regulator “explain why they decided to censor” Mr Eslton’s post.
“The Australian eSafety Commissioner simply has no business attempting to censor someone who lives in another country for saying so,” the letter said.
“Nor does it have to with respect to Australians who may repeat it.”
Ms Grant (pictured) is part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition for Digital SecurityExternal link and, in 2020, was named by the Davos-based organization as one of the world’s most influential leaders revolutionizing the government.
Mr Elston’s alleged crime had been sharing a Daily Mail story in late February about Teddy Cook, an Australian female-to-male trans activist who landed a job on a World Health Organization (WHO) expert panel. that drafted care guidelines for trans and non-trans people. binary people
In his post, Elston misgendered Cook and made other “derogatory” comments.
Cook, 45, who describes himself as a “professional queer, man of trans experience”, has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgeries for all trans Australians.
Her social media posts, now private, are filled with X-rated material, including public nudity, bondage parties, trans orgies and even a photo of a man apparently having sex with a dog.
While Daily Mail Australia does not suggest those revelations should exclude Cook from advising the WHO on trans healthcare, some have questioned his suitability for the role.
On March 22, Elston received a letter from the Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner, demanding that he remove the “deliberately degrading” post.
“An ordinary person in the complainant’s position would find the material offensive,” an anonymous delegate of the eSafety Commissioner wrote to Mr Elston.
“This is because the material singles out the complainant to personify the author’s disdain for transgender identity, as well as equating transgender identity with a psychiatric condition.”
It is understood that Cook lodged the complaint with the ESafety Commissioner himself.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Cook for comment.
The order required that if the post was not removed within 24 hours, X would be fined up to $782,500.
Elston, a vocal campaigner against “gender ideology,” vowed he would not eliminate the position.
He later shared the Daily Mail Australia story and commented: ‘The Australian government’s attempt to censor me has failed spectacularly.