'Arrogant, he thinks he's above law': Australian PM Albanese slams Elon Musk over stance on Sydney stabbing video

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called billionaire Elon Musk an “arrogant” man who thinks “he is above the law”.

Albanese’s comment comes as his government and Musk are embroiled in a feud over an order to remove a video of a priest’s stabbing in Sydney.

Earlier this month, a priest was stabbed at a church in Sydney. The stabbing was captured in the livestream of the church service and the clip of the attack was shared widely on social media. Following the attack, Australia’s eSafety Commission had directed the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), which is owned by Musk, to block the video. While X blocked the video for Australian users, the Australian government argued it should be blocked globally.

Following the eSafety Commission’s insistence, Musk lashed out at the Australian government and said such an order would lead to a situation where a country’s government may end up controlling the entire internet and not just the content within that country.

‘Arrogant billionaire who thinks he’s above law, choses ego over common sense’

After Musk criticised the Australian government’s order, Albanese called him “arrogant” and said he has chosen ego over common sense.

In an interview with Sky News, Albanese said Musk is “a bloke who’s chosen ego and showing violence over common sense”.

He further said, “Australians will shake their head when they think that this billionaire is prepared to go to court fighting for the right to sow division and to show violent videos. He is in social media, but he has a social responsibility in order to have that social licence.”

Separately, Albanese told ABC News that Musk was “an arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law.”

“What the eSafety commissioner is doing is doing her job to protect the interests of Australians and the idea that someone would go to court for the right to put up violent content on a platform shows how out of touch Mr Musk is,” said Albanese.

Musk decries censorship, control of internet

In his response to the Australian government’s order, which X has challenged in the court, Musk said the platform has already blocked the video of the stabbing for users in Australia.

Musk also mocked the eSafety Commissioner as ‘Commissar’. The commissars were political officers of the communist party that were embedded with the Soviet institutions like the military. Their duties included ensuring political indoctrination and checking any political subversion.

Musk said, “Our concern is that if any country is allowed to censor content for all countries, which is what the Australian “eSafety Commissar” is demanding, then what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet? We have already censored the content in question for Australia, pending legal appeal, and it is stored only on servers in the USA.”

The eSafety Commission has argued that, since the videos can still be accessed inside Austria by using virtual private networks (VPNs), an absolute ban is required. A spokesperson said that other social media platforms, including Google, Snap, and TikTok, were also ordered to take down the footage and the companies had complied.

“While it may be difficult to eradicate damaging content from the internet entirely, particularly as users continue to repost it, eSafety requires platforms to do everything practical and reasonable to minimise the harm it may cause to Australians and the Australian community,” said the spokesperson, according to The Guardian.

Separately, Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie called for Musk to be jailed. The AFP quoted her as saying that Musk had “no conscience” and his behaviour was “absolutely disgusting”. She further said, “Quite frankly the bloke should be jailed.”

X has appealed the eSafety Commission’s directive and the court has granted an interim injunction in the matter until Thursday.