The Prime Minister will hope that new US President Donald Trump does not let his best friend Elon Musk join their phone calls as he did when Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Because if Musk does that, you should assume that Trump’s anti-Albo stance will only grow stronger. The prime minister was even ruder about Musk than Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, was about Trump.
In April, our Prime Minister called Musk (who else) an “arrogant billionaire who thinks he’s above the law” in an interview with ABC.
Similar insults were hurled at Musk, one of the richest people in the world, by Labor minister Tanya Plibersek (she called him “selfish”) and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young (a “narcissistic cowboy”).
The context for the barrage of insults was Musk challenging efforts to force him to take down graphic reports of a stabbing at a Sydney church.
Australia’s E-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant took the billionaire’s tech company to court in an attempt to force them to remove the widely shared images – and ultimately withdrew the action, in what was actually a humiliating backlash.
The entire saga has done more to draw attention to the content on X than it would otherwise have done. The images of the priest allegedly being stabbed were also easily accessible on the internet – and in mainstream media, not just on social media.
The Albanian government has since tried to change federal law to ensure it has the power to get its way in such disputes with social media companies in the future.
Newly elected US President Donald Trump sits on the right with Elon Musk at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Musk has become so close to Trump that he calls himself the new US leader’s “first friend” and Trump has jokingly told House Republicans that he “can’t get rid of him”
If we leave aside the irony of the Prime Minister labeling Musk as someone who arrogantly thinks he is above the law – while Albo’s government is trying to change these laws to achieve the desired result – it is difficult to conclude avoid the Prime Minister’s concerns about online security being selectively applied.
For example, what about existing easy access to graphic online pornography for minors? You won’t hear a peep from the government when it comes to tackling this problem.
Or stricter restrictions on online gambling? The crossbench has become increasingly vocal in its frustration at expectations that the Labor government plans to continue its previously strong rhetoric on the issue.
So why is Labor more fixated on tackling social media giants than these other key issues?
Could it be because Albo wants to give in to the Australian media companies who are currently fighting a losing war with social media giants?
It’s hard not to think that the Prime Minister and his strategists see this issue as a perfect way to appease key media executives on the issue, in an attempt to allay broader concerns about his government’s failures.
There is no escaping the poor opinion polls and the growing perception that the Labor government has underperformed in its first term.
It is unlikely that Elon Musk has forgiven or forgotten what the Australian Prime Minister said about him. Mr Albanese will have to hope that Musk does not join his talks with Trump – as he did with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
The tough talk about cracking down on social media giants – continued in Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s speech to the Sydney Institute on Wednesday evening – is also bound to strike a populist tone for parents concerned about their children’s online activity.
But as mentioned, the response is selective at best.
Meanwhile, now that Trump has one foot back in the White House and his buddy Musk has his ear more than anyone else, Albo’s personalization of his attacks is all too clearly yet another misstep by a prime minister all too sensitive to it. is.