Officials in Australia have decided to take an unhinged position and have decided to target Twitter/X owner Elon Musk for not going along with what he believes amounts to global content bans on social media.
The move was an outgrowth of posts relating to the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emanuel in Sydney, where the government was demanding that X restrict posts. So they went to court, where Australia’s “eSafety Commissioner” argued that just “geo-blocking” Australia from seeing the posts would not be sufficient because Australians could have VPNs, so they were calling for a worldwide restriction on the content.
The court gave them a two-day injunction compelling X to hide the posts until Wednesday when they could argue against the action to restrict them.
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Elon Musk Throws Down in Effort to Protect Free Speech in Australia Over ‘Global Content Bans’
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Such things can go beyond that specific topic, so naturally the X platform and Musk had concerns.
But the reaction from the government officials has been hysterical. I previously mentioned the reaction of Tanya Plibersek, who called Musk an “egotistical billionaire,” saying he didn’t care about the victims of the attack on Bishop Emanuel, and accused him of trying to dictate to the Australian government when indeed the opposite was true, they were trying to dictate to Musk, X, and effectively the world what should and should not be said.
But that was only the tip of the unhinged. Let’s now listen to Australian Senator Jacqui Lambie. This is more than a little concerning when you have politicians talking about how social media owners should be locked up for non-compliance with government dictates on speech.
NEW – Australian Senator Jacqui Lambie says Elon Musk “should be in jail” and he “should not have a right” to “create hatred” on “his own ideology platform.” pic.twitter.com/uw0oeI9j65
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 23, 2024
She claimed he had “no social conscience.”
“Someone like that should be in jail, and the key be thrown away,” she said. “That bloke should not have a right to be out there on his own ideology platform, and creating hatred.”
She then interestingly said she was very interested to see what the U.S. was going to do with TikTok.
“We’re trying to get rid of that platform as well (emphasis added),” she confirmed.
Did she just say the quiet part out loud? She said she would be leaving X and encouraged members of Parliament to do the same.
Elon termed Lambie an “enemy to the people of Australia” for trying to restrict speech in response.
The funny thing is that the “victim” that they’re using for these restrictions apparently supports Elon Musk.
Bishop Mar Mari Emanuel is supporting Musk’s position, say X’s lawyers.
Bishop Mar Mari wants the video ONLINE, according to reporter Paul Sakkal. The bishop filed an affadavit in support of the federal court challenge by @elonmusk‘s @X to the commissioner’s global takedown notice. https://t.co/k0Fwu1oKCp pic.twitter.com/OkyCwlskig
— Chriscoveries (@Chriscoveries) April 24, 2024
It was also noted that it was on YouTube and legacy media, so why were they focusing on X?
The video that the Australian government has requested to be taken down from X is still available on YouTube, broadcasted by major legacy media channels.
Why target X? Why not legacy media? Why not YouTube? @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/jCRvK8FQGn
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) April 24, 2024
That of course seems to reveal the game. As Musk commented:
“Censorship Commissar” is a much more compelling title
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2024
