Elon Musk’s X sues the Australian government in ‘free speech’ battle after its ‘world-first’ e-Safety Commissioner ordered an ‘offensive’ post to be taken down
Elon Musk’s
Daily Mail Australia revealed last week that the platform faced an $800,000 fine if it did not remove a post from Canadian man Chris Elston in which he misgendered and made “disparaging” comments about an Australian citizen, Teddy Cook .
Cook, 45, a female-to-male trans woman who has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgery for all trans Australians, was controversially appointed to a World Health Organization expert panel.
X, formerly known as Twitter, complied with the request and blocked the post in Australia.
But the government-run eSafety Commissioner’s demand backfired spectacularly when it led to the offending post being reshared in a different format and viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Now X has revealed it is filing a legal challenge against the commissioner to ‘protect the user’s right to freedom of expression’.
Elon Musk’s X platform is suing Australian government after ‘world-first’ E-Safety Commissioner orders removal of ‘offensive’ post from
The government-funded body is led by former Twitter Director of Public Policy, Australia and South East Asia, Julie Inman-Grant (pictured), who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000.
“Earlier this week,
“The post criticized a person appointed by the World Health Organization as an expert on transgender issues.
“X is withholding the mail in Australia in accordance with the order, but intends to file a legal challenge against the order to protect the user’s right to freedom of expression.”
It is understood that the e-Safety Commissioner is yet to face a formal legal challenge.
If X proceeds, it will likely take the form of a judicial review in federal court.
X is currently involved in a separate judicial review in the Federal Court over its alleged failure to provide information to the e-Safety Commissioner about the platform’s handling of child abuse material on the platform.
Mr Elston’s alleged offense was sharing a Daily Mail story in late February about Mr Cook.
Cook’s now private social media posts are full of X-rated material, including public nudity, bondage parties, trans orgies, and even a photo of a man apparently having sex with a dog.
While Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that these revelations should exclude Cook from advising the WHO on trans healthcare, some have questioned his suitability for the role.
In his post, Mr Elston misgendered Cook and made other ‘disparaging’ comments.
On March 22, Mr Elston received a letter from the Australian government’s eSafety Commissioner demanding he remove the “deliberately derogatory” post.
“An ordinary reasonable person in the complainant’s position would regard the material as offensive,” an unnamed representative of the eSafety Commissioner wrote to Mr Elston.
“This is because the Material singles out the complainant to personify the poster’s disdain for transgender identity and equates transgender identity with a mental illness.”
It is understood Cook himself filed the complaint with the e-Safety Commissioner.
Chris Elston (pictured above), who goes by the name ‘Billboard Chris’ on offensive’ post about trans expert Teddy Cook (photo below). He refused to take it down and reshared it, which has since been viewed thousands of times
UN trans expert Teddy Cook is pictured
“Where is the world going?”, X owner Elon Musk responded to Daily Mail Australia’s original story (photo below)
The order required that if the post was not removed within 24 hours, X would be fined up to $782,500.
Mr Elston, a vocal campaigner against ‘gender ideology’, refused to remove the post.
When
In a colossal backfire for the e-Safety Commissioner, that post alone has been viewed more than 140,000 times and a concerted campaign to reshare it by others has been viewed more than a million times.
In response to this publication’s original story, Billionaire
The taxpayer-funded eSafety Commissioner later admitted that he can only block or delete subsequent messages if other complaints are filed by the offended party.
In a colossal backfire for the e-safety commissioner, Mr Elston’s new post alone has been viewed more than 130,000 times and a concerted campaign to reshare it has attracted hundreds of thousands of views (the post is pictured, as described in the eSafety Commissioner’s ‘take down notice’)
Ms Grant (pictured) is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition for Digital SafetyExternal link and was named by the Davos-based organization in 2020 as one of the world’s most influential leaders to revolutionize government
“eSafety’s Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme is a complaints-based scheme,” a spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner told Daily Mail Australia.
‘In cases where a new version of the material has been posted after a take-down notice has been issued and complied with, we will require a new complaint from the targeted Australian resident – or someone authorized to report on their behalf – to take regulatory action .’
This essentially means that the world’s ‘first’ online safety regulator could be engaged in an endless game of whack-a-mole as it tries to police online speech.
Political figures condemned the alleged waste of Australian taxpayers’ money.
Independent Liberal MP Moira Deeming described the e-Safety Commissioner as the ‘Ministry of Truth’, referring to George Orwell’s novel 1984.
“We reject your Orwellian dystopia,” Ms. Deeming added.
According to the latest annual report, almost 500 public servants are employed by the eSafety Commissioner and the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The eSafety Commissioner praises itself as the ‘first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online’.
It is run by former Twitter Director of Public Policy, Australia and Southeast Asia, Julie Inman-Grant, who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000.
Ms. Grant, an American who started her career in Congress, worked at Microsoft for 17 years, eventually rising to Global Director for Safety and Privacy Policy and Outreach before joining Twitter.
She has previously criticized the “toxic environment” on Twitter, as it was then called.
Ms Grant was reappointed by the Australian Government in January 2022 for a further five-year term in her role as eSafety Commissioner.