Musk holds free speech banner after Australian court orders removal of terror attack post

Elon Musk on Tuesday criticised Australia's prime minister following a court decision, which instructed his social media platform X to remove footage depicting an alleged terrorist attack in Sydney.

Musk said that the ruling sets a precedent allowing any country to control "the entire internet."

The Federal Court in Australia ordered X, previously known as Twitter, to temporarily remove posts containing video footage of the incident, where a teenager was charged with terrorism for attacking an Assyrian priest and others with a knife.

X said it had already restricted access to the posts for Australian users.

The decision came after Australia's e-Safety Commissioner argued that the content, displaying explicit violence, should be taken down, reported Reuters.

Musk wrote in a post on X, "Our concern is that if ANY country is allowed to censor content for ALL countries, which is what the Australian 'eSafety Commissar' is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?"

Musk, who purchased X in 2022 with a stated goal of protecting free speech, shared a meme on X which depicted X as standing for "free speech and truth," contrasting with other social media platforms symbolising "censorship and propaganda."

He captioned the post as, "Don’t take my word for it, just ask the Australian PM!"

Anthony Albanese, the Australian PM, replied to Musk saying, the country would "do what's necessary to take on this arrogant billionaire who thinks he's above the law, but also above common decency."

"The idea that someone would go to court for the right to put up violent content on a platform shows how out-of-touch Mr Musk is," the PM told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The response from the world's third-richest individual opens a fresh chapter in the ongoing struggle between major internet platforms and efforts by countries and nonprofit organisations to increase oversight of the content they host.