‘Arrogant billionaire’: Australia, Musk in war of words over censorship

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the ongoing war of words between Australia and Elon Musk over censorship, following an Australian court order for the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to remove footage of a church stabbing incident.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Clash over Censorship

1. What was the court order issued in Australia regarding the church stabbing incident?

• An Australian judge ruled that X (formerly Twitter) must block users worldwide from accessing videos of a knife attack on an Assyrian Christian bishop in Sydney, after the country's internet watchdog sought an injunction.

2. How did Elon Musk and the Australian government respond to the court order?

• Elon Musk indicated that X would fight the court order, arguing that if any country can censor content for all countries, it could lead to any country controlling the entire internet.
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized Musk, calling him an "arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law, but also above common decency", and said the government was prepared to take on Musk.

3. What is Australia's stance on regulating social media content?

• Under its Online Safety Act passed in 2021, Australia has been at the forefront of efforts to hold tech companies responsible for the content posted on their platforms.
• The Australian government blamed social media posts related to the church attack for inflaming community tensions.

[02] Aftermath of the Church Stabbing Incident

1. What happened during the church stabbing incident?

• Assyrian Christian bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked during a mass service that was being broadcast online, suffering lacerations to his head.
• More than 50 police officers were injured and 20 police cars damaged in an ensuing riot outside the church.

2. How did the bishop respond to the attack?

• The bishop, who survived the attack, released a message saying he was "doing fine, recovering very quickly" and that he had forgiven his attacker.

3. What was the outcome of the police investigation?

• Police charged a 16-year-old with terrorism offences in connection with the stabbing.