The Australian government has tried to force a Canadian man to remove an ‘offensive’ post about a UN trans expert, threatening X owner Elon Musk with an $800,000 fine if it is not removed from the platform.
Chris Elston, who goes by the name ‘Billboard Chris’ on
Mr Elston’s alleged offense was sharing a Daily Mail story in late February about Teddy Cook, an Australian female-to-male transgender activist who had been given a job on a World Health Organization (WHO) expert panel that developed healthcare guidelines for trans and non-transgender people. binary people.
In his post, Mr Elston misgendered Cook and made other ‘disparaging’ comments.
Cook, 45, who describes himself as a “professional queer, man with trans experience”, has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgery for all trans Australians.
His now private social media posts are flooded with X-rated material, including public nudity, bondage parties, trans orgies and even a photo of a man apparently having sex with a dog.
Chris Elston (pictured above), who goes by the name ‘Billboard Chris’ on offensive’ post about trans expert Teddy Cook (photo below)
Cook, 45, who describes himself as a “professional queer, man with trans experience”, has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgeries for all trans Australians
The takedown notice demanded that the post be removed immediately or X would be fined up to $782,500 (Photo: X owner Elon Musk)
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.
On March 22, Mr Elston received a letter from the government-led 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 unclear whether Cook himself filed the complaint with the ESafety Commissioner.
Daily Mail Australia approached Cook for comment.
But 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”, vowed not to delete the post and claimed the Australian government had made “a lot of assumptions”.
“I do not disrespect that woman because of her transgender identity because I maintain that gender identities do not exist,” Mr. Elston wrote.
“We’re called men and women, and that’s that. I also strongly believe that radical queer theorists have nothing to do with medical policy.”
However,
Daily Mail Australia asked X if it had removed the post, but the Elon Musk-owned company declined to comment.
But in a complete mockery of the ‘removal notice’, Mr Elston then re-shared a photo of the original post.
It has since been viewed nearly 55,000 times.
The Australian government’s attempts to control online speech have been widely criticized.
David Limbrick, MP for South Eastern Metropolitan in Victoria, said the eSafety commissioner posed a “danger to free and open discussions on sensitive topics”.
‘The e-safety commissioner ‘protects you’ from opinions that the government does not like.’
In a complete mockery of the ‘take down notice’, Mr Elston then re-shared a photo of the offending post, as set out in the eSafety Commissioner’s ‘take down notice’ (pictured)
The eSafety Commissioner, hailed as the ‘first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online’, 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.
Writer John Goddard said it was ‘wrong on every level’.
“It is insane that the Australian government thinks it can be the arbiter of truth,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, self-styled women’s rights activist Angela Jones claimed the eSafety commissioner was applying double standards.
“I have received death threats and been doxxed and stalked and had my online identity stolen here in Australia and the eSafety Commissioner has done nothing,” Ms Jones wrote.
Another X user sarcastically said it was “an excellent use of taxpayers’ money.”
“A department whose job it is to police such heinous crimes as this and force the offending posts to be removed,” they wrote.
‘Bravo Albo. Now about the housing crisis…’
Daily Mail Australia approached the E-Safety Commissioner for comment.
The government body is led by former Twitter Director of Public Policy, Australia and Southeast Asia, Julie Inman-Grant, who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000.
It touts itself as the “first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online.”
“eSafety has powers in relation to cyberbullying, image-based abuse and illegal and harmful online content,” the website said.