Musk Slams Australian Government Over Proposed Legislation To Censor Social Media ‘To Fight Misinformation’, Call Them ‘Fascists’
On his self-appointed – but very real – role as a paladin for free-speech online, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has had to butt heads with multiple authoritarian governments – and it does seem like the trend is increasing.
But that does not mean that he’s become any less outspoken in his beliefs, as we could notice this week.
Musk, in his social media platform X, today (13) called Australia’s Globalist-leftist government ‘fascists’ in a criticism over proposed legislation that aims to slap fines on social media firms for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation online.
Reuters reported:
“Australia’s Labor government on Thursday unveiled legislation which could fine internet platforms up to 5% of their global revenue for enabling misinformation, joining a worldwide push to rein in borderless tech giants.”
The proposed law requires tech platforms to set ‘codes of conduct’ in order to to stop ‘dangerous falsehoods’ spreading, and establishes that this code would need to be ‘approved by a regulator’.
The law dictates that the regulator would set its own standard if a platform failed to do so – and proposes to fine firms for non-compliance.
“Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, responded to a post by an X user linking the Reuters story about the misinformation law with one word: ‘Fascists’.”
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland responded by saying that ‘companies operating in Australia must comply with Australian laws’.
“‘This bill improves the transparency and accountability of platforms for users and the Australian people’, Rowland said.”
As one would expect, Musk’s comment on the push against misinformation (a.k.a. censorship) drew criticism from other Australian government officials and lawmakers.
“‘Elon Musk’s had more positions on free speech than the Kama Sutra. When it’s in its commercial interests, he is the champion of free speech and when he doesn’t like it … he’s going to shut it all down’, Government Services Minister Bill Shorten told Channel Nine’s breakfast show.”
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told ABC television that social media platforms ‘should not publish scam content, deepfake materials and livestream violence’ in the name of free speech.
Musk has already faced the Globalists from Albanese’s government – and ended up victorious.
“In a previous clash with the Australian government, X in April went to court to challenge a cyber regulator’s order for the removal of some posts about the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to call Musk an ‘arrogant billionaire’.”
In the end, the regulator dropped its challenge against X after suffering a setback in the federal court.
X did block Australian users from viewing the posts about the stabbing – but refused to remove them globally, on the obvious grounds that one country’s censoring rules should not control the planetary internet.
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