Billionaire Elon Musk has responded to Australia’s prime minister, doubling down on the “fascist” label in reference to a planned crackdown on disinformation.
Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman also criticised the federal government’s proposed anti-disinformation bill on Sunday.
With these changes, Labour wants to strengthen the powers of the communications watchdog to monitor and regulate content on digital platforms.
Social media companies could be fined up to five per cent of their annual turnover under proposed Commonwealth laws.
Musk, who owns social media platform X, responded to a post about Australia’s measures with the word “fascist.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said social media companies had a social responsibility.
“If Mr. Musk doesn’t understand that, that says more about him than it does about my administration,” he said Saturday.
The billionaire doubled down on his comments over the weekend in another post, titled: ‘Far-left fascists love censorship.’
Elon Musk has stepped up his efforts to call the Albanian government fascists over proposed disinformation laws
Musk has attacked Anthony Albanese as the war of words between the two men escalated.
Defending the laws, Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones said they were about “sovereignty”.
“The Australian government, like every other democratic country in the world, asserts its right to ensure the security of Australians,” he said.
Mr. Coleman criticized the federal government’s proposed anti-disinformation bill, but avoided using the term “fascist.”
“I wouldn’t use those words, I would say it’s grossly incompetent, I would say it’s a disregard for freedom of speech,” he told Sky News.
Mr Coleman said there were many “problems” with the bill and he was concerned the communications minister could personally order a disinformation inquiry and public hearings.
Another problem was that only some people could be guilty of spreading “disinformation.”
“If you’re an academic, what you’re saying can’t basically be disinformation, but if you’re an ordinary Australian who disagrees with an academic, it can be disinformation,” Coleman said.
Albanese said Musk needed to understand that his platform had a “social responsibility.”
He noted that this included opinions where deference was due to the expert, “but experts are always necessarily right.”
Mr Coleman also took the opportunity to criticise the Greens.
“One of the types of damage that is not allowed is damage that could cause imminent harm to the economy or the stock market, and that is basically every economic policy the Greens have ever announced,” he said.