Musk v Albanese: How Sydney stabbing sparked a censorship debate

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has slammed billionaire Elon Musk for choosing “ego and showing violence” over common sense after the X owner accused Australia of censorship.

The comments come after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant won a Federal Court injunction on Monday night to force X to hide videos of last week’s Sydney church stabbing. The order also applied to Meta, which Inman Grant said last week was co-operating with her demand to take videos down.

In response, Musk posted to X accusing Albanese of censorship.

How we got here

Last week on April 15, graphic footage captured on a live-stream showed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel speaking at the altar of Wakeley’s Christ The Good Shepherd Church as a male wearing a black jumper walked towards him and pulled out an implement, stabbing the priest who then fell to the floor and was stabbed a further five times.

A 16-year-old boy was charged over the attack on Friday with a Commonwealth terrorism offence.

Emmanuel had gained notoriety online after speaking against lockdowns in 2021. The live-streaming of his attack led to a riot of up to 2000 people. Dozens of police officers were injured, six paramedics had to seek shelter in the church and nearly 100 cars were damaged.

In response, Inman Grant ordered tech platforms to take down all graphic content related to the attack. Meta complied however X rebuffed demands. The company’s global governance affairs department said it would robustly challenge the commissioner’s take-down orders, describing them as “unlawful and dangerous”.

Late on Monday, Inman Grant launched a Federal Court bid to force X to comply with the order. The court found in favour of the Australian regulator on an interim basis and decided the videos should be removed by putting them behind a notice within 24 hours.

Why it matters

The eSafety commissioner’s take-down order has sparked debate on censorship and the power of online tech companies. Musk has argued the issue lies in Australia requesting the video be taken down globally beyond its borders.

However, the government says the violent nature of the video has the potential to radicalise people and X has a responsibility to remove dangerous content.

Key players

Billionaire X owner Elon Musk has been a leading voice in the debate as he regularly posts criticism against Australia’s take-down orders.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken firmly against Musk’s conduct. Labor colleagues as well as Liberal politicians have echoed his anger.

ESafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has been leading the orders for the Sydney church stabbing video to be taken down.

ESafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.Credit: Martin Ollman

What they said

Musk has posted regularly on X, stating in a pinned post: “I’d like to take a moment to thank the PM for informing the public that this platform is the only truthful one.”

Further, in a repost arguing the issue lies in Australia demanding censorship of content beyond its borders, Musk replied: “That is exactly the issue. Should the eSafety Commissar (an unelected official) in Australia have authority over all countries on earth?”

Albanese slammed Musk’s responses during a round of TV interviews on Tuesday morning, saying he would not be lectured to by billionaires about free speech.

“This is a bloke who’s chosen ego and showing violence over common sense,” he told Sky News.

“This bloke thinks he is above the Australian law, that he’s above common decency and I’ll tell you what I say to Elon Musk, that he is so out of touch with what the Australian public want.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Inman Grant said the commission would seek a permanent injunction and civil penalties against X.

“ESafety expects a further hearing to take place in the coming days during which the court will be asked to decide whether it will extend the interim injunction,” she said.

“It is expected this second hearing will be followed by a final hearing at which eSafety will seek a permanent injunction and civil penalties against X Corp. The date of the final hearing will be determined by the court.”

Another perspective

Nationals senator Matt Canavan is one of the few Australian politicians speaking in favour of Musk’s refusal to take down posts.

“I back the Australian people to be able to say what they want and not have a government trying to police their own speech,” Canavan told Sky News.

“What the prime minister’s trying to do here is to use a violent stabbing, a terrible incident in Western Sydney, to say somehow he needs … to govern power to tell you what you can say.”

What’s next

Another hearing will be set by the Federal Court. The eSafety Commission will seek to impose a permanent injunction and civil penalties, which through the Online Safety Act could be daily fines of up to $782,000.

More reading

• Watchdog wins urgent court bid to make X take down stabbing videos.
• Take down order ‘unlawful and dangerous’: X rejects Australian law.
• Musk’s X ignores Australia’s legal threats to take down ‘distressing’ stabbing content.

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