While it doesn’t take much to provoke Elon Musk, the X owner is especially unhappy with the powers of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
Inman Grant has just scored a temporary win against the tech titan, and she has even managed to unite politicians across (almost) the full spectrum of Australian politics on the issue of graphic and harmful content.
The Federal Court of Australia granted a temporary injunction last night ordering X to hide content showing the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a livestream in Sydney last week. With 24 hours to comply with the order, the injunction only applies to the video of the attack and not the “commentary, public debate” or other posts of the event – with a further hearing to take place on Wednesday to determine if the injunction will continue.
Grant has the backing of the Albanese Government on the issue, while Opposition leader Peter Dutton has also issued support saying he would back tougher laws forcing social media platforms to remove violent content.
The Greens are also on board, with Senator Sarah Hanson-Young describing Musk as a “narcissistic cowboy who thinks he can give the middle finger to the Australian Government.” She called for Musk to front up to parliament and explain why his company doesn’t have a social conscience. “The online tech thugs are operating as if it’s the Wild West,” she said.
Musk isn’t happy with what X has deemed to be “dangerous” censorship by the Australian Government and has described Inman Grant as the “eSafety Commissar”. He has also posted a cartoon illustrating two paths, one featuring the X logo and “free speech” as a path towards the sun, and the other featuring other platforms and the word “censorship” as the path to darkness.
In the Federal Court, X branded the Commissioner’s move to remove the content in question as being an “unlawful and dangerous approach”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Sky News in response to Musk that, “this is a bloke who’s chosen ego and showing violence over common sense.”
Albanese has also said his government would do “what’s necessary to take on this arrogant billionaire who thinks he’s above the law, but also above common decency.” He added that Inman Grant was doing her job to protect the interests of Australians.
Inman Grant has plenty of experience with the the tech giants, and has likely come across plenty of egos in her time. She spent 17 years with Microsoft before going on to work at Adobe and Twitter in Australia — prior to Musk taking ownership.
This is also far from the first time Inman Grant’s come up against Musk. Just two weeks ago, Musk declared he’s taking legal action against the Australian Government after Inman Grant forced X to remove a post alleged to be harmful to a transgender activist.