Elon Musk’s brutal response to Australia’s online watchdog after X was asked to take down posts about bishop’s alleged stabbing in Western Sydney

Elon Musk and his social media company

On Tuesday, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said social media giants X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook parent company Meta would be served takedown notices.

The notice covers content depicting “gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail” following the alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, which was captured during an online broadcast of the service.

In a tweet early Saturday local time, Elon Musk, who bought Twitter in April 2022, claimed that “Australia’s censorship commissioner is demanding a *global* content ban.”

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In a statement shared by Musk, the social media giant said “recent attacks in Australia are a heinous attack on the free society,” but vowed to fight the takedown request.

“The Australian eSafety Commissioner has instructed X to remove certain posts in Australia that publicly commented on the recent attack on a Christian bishop,” X said.

‘X believes that eSafety’s order did not fall within the scope of Australian law and we have complied with the directive pending a legal challenge.

‘X has now received a demand from the eSafety Commissioner that X withhold these items worldwide or face a daily fine of $785,000.’

The company described the alleged stabbing of the Assyrian church leader as “a tragic event” and said it would not allow “people to praise it or call for further violence.”

“There is a public conversation about the event, at X and across Australia, as is often the case with events of major public importance,” X said.

“While X respects a country’s right to enforce its laws within its jurisdiction, the Commissioner has no authority to dictate what content users worldwide can view. We will vigorously challenge this illegal and dangerous approach in court.

“Global takedown orders go against the principles of a free and open internet and threaten freedom of expression everywhere.”

Video of the alleged stabbing, which was streamed live, has become a sore spot for police and political leaders trying to quell fears of further intra-community violence.

Speaking to the media, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has blasted ‘misinformation’ after the alleged attack and called on social media sites to do more.

“I think running a social media platform has to come with a lot of social, business responsibility,” she said.

“I think if such images are online they should be removed immediately and not left there.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns criticized X on Saturday, saying it was time to strengthen time penalties for social media companies.

“This is exactly what I would expect from X, or Twitter, or whatever you want to call it: a disregard for the information they pump into our communities, lies and rumors spreading like wildfire,” Mr Minns said to reporters.

“When things go wrong, they throw up their hands to say they don’t want to do anything about it.”

In a statement carried by The Guardian, the eSafety Commission said it was continuing to engage platforms “in relation to the re-sharing and re-posting of (violent content)”.

“We expect platforms that profit from Australians using their service to make a genuine effort to protect our citizens from harmful content,” the commission said.

“In relation to X Corp, eSafety is working to ensure the company is fully compliant with Australian law.

“eSafety is disappointed that the process has been unnecessarily prolonged, instead of prioritizing the safety of Australians and the Australian community.”

The commission said it expected platforms to adhere to their own terms of service and said it was “considering whether further regulatory action is warranted” in relation to X.

Ms Inman Grant told reporters on Tuesday that while the majority of mainstream social media platforms had been in contact with the commissioner, more needed to be done.

“I am not satisfied that enough is being done to protect Australians from this most extreme and unnecessary violent material circulating online,” she said.

‘That is why I am exercising my powers under the Online Safety Act to formally compel them to remove it.’

A 16-year-old boy was charged in connection with the church stabbing, and Friday evening a 45-year-old man was arrested at a Fairfield Heights home and charged with rioting and threatening violence causing fear.

The man was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.

Police hope high-visibility patrols in the region will curb the conflict after the knife-wielding teenager allegedly struck 53-year-old Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who was delivering a sermon on Monday evening.

The stabbing – which has since been labeled an act of terror – caused a riot outside Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, injuring dozens of police officers.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said investigators believed the attack met the criteria of a terrorist act, but he declined to go into further detail.

Elon Musk bought Twitter in April 2022 largely over claims that freedom of expression had been eroded on the platform.

The billionaire has regularly clashed with governments over alleged censorship attempts, including a recent spat with a Brazilian Supreme Court judge over banned accounts.