Australian premier feuding with Elon Musk over violent social media content

By Anadolu staff

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday called X chief Elon Musk "arrogant" for his resistance to remove violent contents of two stabbing attacks in Sydney last week.

Premier Albanese said Musk is saying more about himself than anything else.

"It just shows his arrogance, really," the Australian premier told a local broadcaster Channel Nine, according to transcript issued from his office.

Earlier, Musk posted comments mocking Albanese and calling X a platform of "free speech and truth" and said: "Don't take my word for it, just ask the Australian PM."

In another post, he wrote on X: "Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian “eSafety Commissar” is demanding, 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 only on servers in the USA."

He said the Australian authorities want to remove the contents beyond its border.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Australian Senator Ralph Babet posted a clip on X of Sydney attack when bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was being stabbed and said he will not remove it.

"This opinion piece contains the video that the Australian Government has gone to the Federal court to have removed. I WILL NOT REMOVE IT. Without free speech our nation will fall. The Liberal party, The Labor party and the eSafety commissioner are a threat to democracy," he said on X.

Feud between Australian government and Musk began after eSafty Commissioner ordered the social media platforms to remove the violent video clip but X vowed to continue fighting, according to ABC News.

Musk on Saturday said that orders to take down graphic footage of the stabbing attacks in Sydney are an attempt by Australia to censor his social media company.

Six people were killed and 16 injured in two separate stabbing incidents at a shopping center and a church in Sydney last week.

On Sunday, the Australian opposition has also thrown its weight behind the government's proposed misinformation laws in light of the social media response to the violent scenes.

The government will introduce reworked laws to toughen social media compliance.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid