Separately, Australian PM calls Musk “arrogant billionaire who thinks he’s above the law” for refusing to obey demands to globally censor video of bishop getting stabbed by Islamist on the X platform.
Australian Senator Jacqui Lambie called for Elon Musk to be jailed for allowing footage of a priest being stabbed by a radical Islamist to be shared freely on the X platform.
“Elon Musk has no social conscience, or conscience whatsoever,” Lambie said Monday while speaking on ABC RN, adding it was “absolutely disgusting behaviour” to allow the graphic content to be posted on X.
Australian Senator Jacqui Lambie says Elon Musk needs to be jailed because he’s allowing too much free speech on X.
“Quite frankly the bloke should be jailed, and the sooner we can bring laws in and do something about this game playing with our social media the better off we’re… pic.twitter.com/Nk5TBoYJx1
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 23, 2024
“And quite frankly the bloke should be jailed, and the sooner that we can bring rules in or do something about this sort of game playing with our social media, the better off we’re going to be,” Lambie said.
She added, “But quite frankly, the power that that man has because of that platform that he’s on, it’s got to stop. It has absolutely got to stop. But leaving that out for our kids to see, for people that were family and friends out there and just letting that run on there, once again, that bloke has no conscience. He’s an absolute friggin’ disgrace, and there’s nothing else to say about Elon Musk.”
She reiterated her sentiment on Sky News Australia on Tuesday, saying, “Someone like that should be in jail and the key be thrown away.”
This woman has utter contempt for the Australian people
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2024
The feud between Australia’s tyrannical lawmakers and Musk began after an Assyrian Orthodox bishop in Sydney was stabbed by an Islamist during a livestreamed sermon last week.
The country’s social media regulator then ordered Musk’s platform to remove content showing the stabbing of the priest or face a daily fine of $500,000.
But X and Musk have refused to comply, arguing that Australia’s regulators don’t have the power to determine what content can be shown in other countries.
From Fortune:
Following the incident, the eSafety Commission ordered social media platforms to remove content related to the attack.
In a post on Saturday, X said it complied with the demand to remove “certain posts” in Australia, in a statement posted to the social media platform. Yet it also argued that the order was “not within the scope of Australian law,” and that it would file a legal challenge.
In that same post, X claimed that the eSafety Commission demanded the social media platform take down content for all users globally, or face daily fines of 785,000 Australian dollars ($506,000).
On Monday, an Australian court upheld the global ban until Wednesday, at which point the court would consider making the ban permanent. During the hearing, Commission lawyers argued that Australia-based users could still use virtual private networks to see the posts.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday called Musk an “arrogant billionaire who thinks he’s above the law” for refusing to take down the video and “a bloke who’s chosen ego and showing violence over common sense.”
“I think that Australians will shake their head when they think that this billionaire is prepared to go to court, fighting for the right to sow division and to show violent videos, which are very distressing,” Albanese told Sky News.
𝕏 is the only one standing up for the rights of Australians
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2024
NEW: Australian Prime Minister GOING AFTER Elon Musk, accidentally admits 𝕏 platform is the only truthful one.
Despite cyber regulator’s demanding the removal of posts on 𝕏, Elon Musk refuses to bend to their demands, stating,
“It is absurd for any ONE country to attempt to… pic.twitter.com/mUx87IZHce
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) April 22, 2024
Musk responded to the PM’s remarks, saying, “No president, prime minister or judge has authority over all of Earth! This platform adheres to the laws of countries in those countries, but it would be improper to extend one country’s rulings to other countries. If he want to censor things in other countries, he should bring a legal action to bear in those countries.”
Well, no president, prime minister or judge has authority over all of Earth!
This platform adheres to the laws of countries in those countries, but it would be improper to extend one country’s rulings to other countries.
If he want to censor things in other countries, he should…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2024
As for Senator Jacqui Lambie, she deleted her X account to boycott the platform and encouraged others to do the same.
Since the COVID plandemic, widespread censorship has become a feature, not an exception, of social media discourse in Australia.
You’ll never guess which world government makes the most official demands for censorship of individuals on social media. pic.twitter.com/ZZQaPVHhGl
— ~~datahazard~~ (@fentasyl) April 23, 2024
