Elon Musk has responded to attempts by the Australian internet watchdog to force his social media platform X to prevent users from viewing violent images related to the Sydney church stabbing.
On Monday night, the Australian federal court ordered Elon Musk’s X to hide from users around the world posts containing videos of a stabbing at a Sydney church last week, after the eSafety commissioner launched a urgent court case seeking a court order.
A few hours later, the American billionaire posted on his personal account and “propaganda”.
Above the cartoon, Musk has written the message: “Don’t take my word for it, ask the Australian Prime Minister!”
He also republished a post on images.
However, the publication added the words “due to censorship” to the prime minister’s quote and claimed that Albanese had taken the time to “advertise Elon.”
Above the post, Musk added the comment: “I would like to take a moment to thank the Prime Minister for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one.”
On Tuesday, Albanese said the government would “do whatever it takes to confront this arrogant billionaire who believes himself above the law, but also above common decency.”
He said the eSafety Commissioner was doing her job to protect the interests of Australians.
“The idea of someone going to court for the right to post violent content on a platform shows how out of touch Mr. Musk is,” Albanese said. “Social networks must have social responsibility. Mr. Musk shows none.”
This came after a successful court attempt late on Monday by the eSafety commissioner to obtain the order against X.
X, together with Meta, received the order of the commissioner of Esafety, Julie Inman Grant, on Tuesday of last week to eliminate material that will be considered to represent “free or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail” within the 24 hours or potentially face fines.
The material was footage of the alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel last Monday night while giving a live-streamed service at the Assyrian Church of Christ the Good Shepherd in Wakeley.
At a hearing late Monday afternoon, eSafety lawyer Christopher Tran told Judge Geoffrey Kennett that X had geo-blocked posts containing the video, meaning Australians could not access them. However, the posts were still accessible globally and to Australians using a virtual private network (VPN) connection that caused their IP address to appear outside of Australia.
During a hastily arranged hearing, Tran said the “graphic and violent” video was still online on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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It would cause “irreparable harm” if it continued to circulate, Tran said. “That was a choice, they could have done more.”
At the very least, X should protect the images of all users, not just Australians, he said.
Anticipating a discussion about the United States’ right to free speech, Tran said it appeared that right did not extend to depictions of violence.
Musk had previously called the eSafety commissioner the “Australian censorship commissioner,” while his company raised concerns about free speech and jurisdiction over the takedown order.
X also called the internet police move an “illegal and dangerous approach.”
Marcus Hoyne, appearing for X Corp, urged the court to adjourn the matter until he could seek “sensible and appropriate instructions” from his San Francisco-based client.
The eSafety commissioner’s court application was delivered at the last possible moment, he said.
Granting the order would affect international users “in circumstances where it has no impact in Australia”, he said.
However, his appeal failed. The judge granted the requested interim order, deleting the images of all X users until at least Wednesday afternoon.
The case will return to court on Wednesday to argue about a permanent expungement.