Australia Threatens Musk Over New Censorship Laws

The Australian Financial Review reported February 12 that Australian Communications Minister and Member of Parliament Michelle Rowland is waging a “crusade” to address a “litany of recent issues” she claimed are afflicting X. These comments come as she pushes her "proposed mis- and disinformation laws” that will impose standards on what speech will be permitted online.

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The laws will enable the Australian government to impose hefty fines on social media companies that violate standards set by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. “[I]f X refuses to cooperate with an ACMA inquiry or comply with a code of conduct registered under the act, it could face fines of up to $3 million or 2 per cent of annual turnover,” The Australian Financial Review explained. “If it fails to comply with the ACMA standards, the penalty could be the greater of $7.8 million or 5 per cent of the platform’s annual turnover.” 

Ed Morrissey

I suspect the answer from Musk will be similar to his answer to Delaware -- Pound sand. If Australia wants to impose censorship on social media users, then Twitter/X can simply exclude Australia from its service. I doubt that will matter to anyone other than Australians, who then might have some strong words for their authoritarian elites. 

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