Musk widens legal fight with Australia as Labor pushes social media probe

Social media giants will be called before a parliamentary inquiry into the societal damage done by Facebook, TikTok and other platforms as Elon Musk expands his legal challenge against Australia’s online watchdog.

Musk’s company X, formerly known as Twitter, this week launched a case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal testing the merits of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s order to remove videos of the April stabbing of a Sydney priest.

X owner Elon Musk and the Albanese government have been locked in a legal battle over the graphic video of the Sydney church stabbing.Credit: AP, Dion Georgopoulos

The regulator’s demand sparked global attention after Musk claimed an Australian “censor” was trying to determine what could be viewed globally, prompting weeks of local debate about online harm and elevating a Coalition policy to follow the UK by blocking younger children from social media.

A Federal Court case on Friday will hear arguments for and against the commissioner’s order to block videos showing the alleged terror attack, which the victim, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, defends as part of free speech but authorities argue could be used to promote radical acts.

X Corp will use its separate tribunal case to argue Musk’s view that by blocking the video to all Australians – including those using networks that obscure their location – the watchdog is effectively seeking a global ban outside its jurisdiction and that Inman Grant’s decision was made without a proper basis.

An eSafety spokesperson said they would assist the tribunal but could not comment further.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used the spread of false information about the church stabbing and Bondi attack to strengthen the case for proposed anti-misinformation laws and heavier fines for social media firms.

Now, Labor is launching a parliamentary inquiry into social media at which MPs will grill tech executives about the impact of TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X on mental health, public debates and Australian journalism, after Meta announced it would stop funding media companies for use of their articles.

“Social media companies have social responsibilities. They need to be more accountable and transparent,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said.

“Parliament needs to understand how social media companies dial up and down the content that supports healthy democracies, as well as the anti-social content that undermines public safety.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones.Credit: Ben Symons

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, leading negotiations on Australia’s attempt to force them to pay for hosting Australian news stories, said the companies were “more determined to wipe trusted news sources from their platforms than scammers and other criminals”.

“This will open the floodgates for misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “We have a clear message for the platforms: Be better. Do better.”

The committees can compel witnesses to attend hearings.

Rowland and Albanese last week announced a pilot of age verification technology to access things like porn websites.

Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman had been pressuring Labor to launch the trial since last year when the eSafety Commission recommended doing so.

Coleman said the pilot must go beyond access to porn sites to include social media platforms, which currently ask if a person is aged 13 or over but do not require proof to set up an account.

The UK announced this week it would fine tech platforms up to 10 per cent of their turnover if they failed to check a person’s age. Under the UK plan, social media companies could ask for photo ID such as passports, use facial age estimation – where computer software is used to calculate a user’s age – or reusable digital ID services, in which an external company provides age verification.

“You can’t tackle children’s online safety without tackling Instagram and TikTok. It would be like regulating road safety without doing anything about speed limits or seatbelts,” Coleman said.

“Social media use can be immensely damaging for Australian children, who have significantly more mental health issues than previous generations.”

A spokesman for Rowland said more details of the trial would be announced soon: “The government is funding an age assurance trial in the upcoming budget to examine how to reduce children’s access to age-inappropriate material online, including on social media. Work has been under way to scope the trial.”

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