Elon Musk has called the Australian government “fascist” over new legislation aimed at tackling deliberate lies spread on social media.
Social media companies could be fined up to 5% of their annual turnover under proposed state laws.
Musk, the American billionaire owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, responded to a post about Australia’s measures with one word.
“Fascists,” he wrote.
But federal minister Bill Shorten said Musk was inconsistent on free speech.
“When it’s in his commercial interests, he’s the champion of free speech; when he doesn’t like it, he’s going to shut it all down,” he told Channel Nine’s morning show on Friday.
Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones said Musk’s comment was “madness”. Jones told ABC TV that the government’s new bill on disinformation and misinformation was a matter of “sovereignty”.
“Whether it’s the Australian government or any other government in the world, we assert our right to pass laws that keep Australians safe, safe from scammers, safe from criminals,” he said.
“I can’t understand how Elon Musk or anyone else, in the name of free speech, thinks it’s okay for social media platforms to post fraudulent content, which robs Australians of billions of dollars every year. They post deepfake material, they post child pornography, they live stream murder scenes. I mean, is this what he thinks free speech is?”
Federal Aged Care Minister Anika Wells told ABC radio she had “yet to encounter (a fascist) in government”.
Australia’s misinformation legislation would give the communications watchdog powers to monitor and regulate content on digital platforms.
It would also allow it to pass an enforceable industry code of conduct or introduce standards for social media companies if self-regulation is deemed to be failing.
This is not the first time Musk has clashed with Australian authorities.
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In April, the eSafety Commissioner issued an edict to X to remove graphic content after clips of the stabbing of Sydney Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel remained on the platform.
During the months-long saga, Musk accused the government of suppressing free speech.
Several politicians responded, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling him an “arrogant billionaire”.
In June, the e-safety commissioner stayed the federal court proceedings. A separate hearing before an administrative appeals tribunal on the notice to X is expected to take place in October.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told the ABC last month that X had seven ongoing legal matters with her office relating to notices issued by the commissioner.
In federal court this week, X challenged a $610,500 fine imposed last year, arguing that the original notice had been issued to what was then Twitter Inc, a company that ceased to exist in March 2023, and that the law did not take the merger into account. The court reserved its decision.
Separately, millions of X users in Brazil were banned from the platform this month following a dispute between the right-wing tech billionaire and Brazil’s top court over X’s refusal to purge anti-democratic and far-right voices from the site in the wake of the January 2023 uprising in the capital Brasilia carried out by supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.