Australia’s top police officer has criticized social media companies for not doing enough to protect children who are targeted by “a cauldron of extremist poison”.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has criticized social media giants such as X and Meta – which runs Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp – for being “indifferent” to law enforcement efforts to curb the ” rampant misinformation, sexual exploitation and criminal activity.
In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Kershaw will warn that social media companies are allowing the spread of what authorities consider misinformation.
“Social media companies refuse to turn off social combustion on their platforms,” the top cop said.
“Instead of putting out the embers burning on their platforms, their indifference and defiance are adding accelerant to the flames.”
It comes after graphic images of two stabbing incidents in Sydney spread like wildfire on platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
On April 13, a video of Joel Cauchi running through Westfield Bondi Junction while fatally stabbing six people circulated on social media.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw (pictured) has warned that social media companies such as X and Meta are actively spreading misinformation online.
Just days later, a Christian bishop was stabbed by a suspected terrorist during a live-streamed church service in western Sydney.
Kershaw will say images of these attacks, as well as misinformation circulating on social media, cause harm to Australians.
The police chief also warned that young people were at risk of being extorted or sexually exploited on the open or dark web by “digital deceivers”.
‘We need to constantly reinforce that people are not always who they say they are online; And this also applies to images and information,” she says.
‘Criminals, posing as someone else, use social media to trick young people into sending intimate images of themselves and then blackmail them for money.
“Fearing that their images will be sent to their loved ones, young people have taken their lives.”
His comments come as the Australian government ordered X, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, through the Federal Court, to remove footage of the church attack from its platform.
The company said it had complied with the order in Australia and at the same time sought a two-day injunction, but argued that a global takedown order was excessive.
X and eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant will return to court on Wednesday following the two-day injunction.
Kershaw has criticized social media giants like X and Meta for being “indifferent” to law enforcement efforts to curb rampant misinformation and sexual exploitation.
Failure to comply with the court’s decision to eliminate positions could result in X being fined nearly $800,000 a day and the executives being charged with contempt of court.
Failure to pay those fines, or a contempt charge, could force the government to block access to X in Australia.
National Senator Matt Canavan said such a draconian measure would do more harm than good and encourage the belief that authorities had something to hide.
“These things will not be stopped from circulating on the internet because the video is still freely available despite what the eSafety commissioner says, on Facebook, Meta and, of course, Twitter,” Senator Canavan said on Nine’s Today programme. .
‘More people have seen it because of the moral panic it generated over the last week. You’re not going to stop this; If you try, you’ll only fuel conspiracy theories, so we need more freedom of speech to fight this, not less.’
On Tuesday, Musk shared a post claiming that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had only succeeded in advertising the virtues of X when he complained that it was the only social media company that had not given in to the eSafety commissioner’s demands.
“I would like to take a moment to thank the Prime Minister for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one,” Musk said.
‘Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian “eSafety Commissioner” demands, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?
‘We have already censored the content in question for Australia, pending legal appeal, and it is stored solely on servers in the United States. Should Australia’s Electronic Security Commissioner (an unelected official) have authority over every country on Earth?
Elon Musk has responded to the eSafety commissioner over attempts to censor content on X
Albanese responded, calling Musk “arrogant” for defying the demands of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee, who he claimed were only enforcing “common decency.”
‘He [Mr Musk] “This is someone who is totally out of touch with the values that Australian families have,” Mr Albanese said.
‘He is putting his ego and money into pursuing a court case for the right to post more violent content that will cause distress to people on his platform.
“Other social media operators have accepted the eSafety Commissioner’s decision.”
Asked whether stronger powers could be given to the commissioner or whether access to X should be cut off, he said the government would look at what action could be taken.
“No one wants censorship here; what we want, however, is the application of a little common sense in not showing or propagating violence online,” said Mr Albanese.