Australian premier, X chief face-off over attack footage sparks sovereignty debate

By Salih Okuroglu

ANKARA (AA) – A dispute between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Elon Musk, owner of X, emerged after Australia’s request to remove footage of the April shopping mall and church attacks was rejected, highlighting another instance of social media companies clashing with national sovereignty.

Following the attacks in Sydney, Australia’s e-Safety Office appealed to the federal court, seeking a temporary global ban on access to the footage by X users.

On April 22, the court ruled that access to the footage should be temporarily halted.

X rejected the request to remove the content, announcing that it would respond strongly in court to Australia's "illegal and dangerous" approach.

Meanwhile, Australia’s e-Safety Office noted that other tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, and TikTok, largely complied with requests to "reduce the spread of the material."

- Australian reaction to X's refusal to remove attack footage

Australian Prime Minister Albanese reacted sharply to X’s refusal to remove the footage, stressing that social media has a "social responsibility."

In response to the court ruling on the temporary suspension of access to the church attack footage, Musk accused the Australian government of enforcing "censorship" on all countries.

Albanese then responded to Musk’s remarks, asserting that: "Australia will do whatever it takes to stand up to this arrogant billionaire who believes he is above the law and common decency."

Musk replied to Albanese by saying: "I don’t think I’m above the law. Does the prime minister believe he should have jurisdiction over all of Earth?"

- Disinformation on social media

As the Australian government prepares to impose social media restrictions on children to protect them from its social and psychological impacts, a bill has also been introduced to strengthen measures against disinformation on these platforms.

On Sept. 10, Albanese announced plans to introduce a bill by the end of the year to set age restrictions on social media platforms, and discussions on the applicable age groups were ongoing.

On Sept. 12, the government introduced a bill allowing it to "pressure" social media platforms to combat misinformation and disinformation.

The bill would enable scrutiny of social media companies for "allowing the spread of fake news" and impose fines of up to 5% of their global revenue in case of violations.

In response to Australia’s plan, Musk labeled the government as "fascists."

Albanese countered, stating that Musk must acknowledge X’s "social responsibility," adding: "If Mr. Musk doesn’t understand this, it says more about him than it does about my government."

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