Don’t get on wrong side of Elon Musk, Labor warned

Coalition MPs are pushing for Anthony Albanese to dump Labor’s misinformation bill amid fears of a US backlash.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk on the campaign trail. Picture: AFP.

Coalition MPs are pushing for ­Anthony Albanese to dump Labor’s misinformation bill amid expectations the federal government’s suite of social media and online safety laws will come under further attack from US president-elect Donald Trump’s billionaire backer Elon Musk.

Amid rolling court and verbal battles between Mr Musk, owner of social media platform X, the ­Albanese government and ­eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the Coalition has raised concerns that Labor’s ­misinformation bill could lead to  tensions with a Trump administration.

Ahead of this week’s election, US-based tech leaders, including Apple boss Tim Cook, directly lobbied Mr Trump about European Union laws and multibillion-dollar penalties targeting their companies.

Following his election win over Vice-President Kamala Harris, Mr Trump – who is expected to adopt a more hands-off approach to ­artificial intelligence than was ­signalled by the Biden administration – was congratulated by the chief executives of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and OpenAI.

Mr Musk’s company X has been waging legal battles with the eSafety Commissioner over the Online Safety Act. The Tesla and SpaceX founder has also attacked the Albanese government for being “fascists” in relation to the misinformation bill.

Mr Musk has called Ms Inman Grant the “censorship commissar” over her attempt to force X to take down a video of a stabbing at a Sydney church not just in Australia but across the world.

He was one of Mr Trump’s biggest financial supporters in the election and could play an influential role in the next White House. Mr Trump spent several minutes praising Mr Musk in his victory speech on Wednesday.

Mr Trump has previously said he would establish a government efficiency commission within his administration and appoint Mr Musk to lead it.

It was reported Mr Musk lobbied Mr Trump to select vice-president-elect JD Vance as his running mate.

Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan urged the Albanese government to either scrap or defer its misinformation bill.

“The Albanese-Trump relationship is already off to a rocky start,” Senator Canavan said. “We should be trying to reduce any ­unnecessary further tension.

“Donald Trump is a strong defender of the commercial interests of American companies.

“The misinformation bill is a terrible law, but it is especially ­unwise to threaten American companies with absurd fines of up to 5 per cent of their global ­revenue when we are trying to settle our relationship.

“The government should ­withdraw, or at least defer, its bill until it can establish a strong, working relationship with the new Trump administration.

“This is not just about X and Elon Musk. Mr Trump has repeatedly recounted the story of him speaking to the head of Apple, Tim Cook, about helping him fight a $22bn fine imposed by the EU.”

Senator Canavan said “we should be doing everything we can to remove areas of disagreement with the US so we can ­stabilise our important friendship in the wake of senior Labor MPs previously making unwise personal attacks on President Trump”.

Communications Minister ­Michelle Rowland on Thursday was asked what resistance she ­expected from the US to a new under-16s social media ban, ­especially given Mr Musk’s expanded influence under a future Trump administration.

“The sovereignty of our laws, the sovereignty of our parliament and the welfare of Australians is paramount to this government,” she said. “Every company that ­operates in Australia, whether domiciled here or otherwise, is ­expected and must comply with Australian law or face the consequences.”