Elon Musk is in a row with the Australian government after its online safety regulator called for a video of an Assyrian bishop being stabbed at a Sydney church to be removed from X, his social media platform.
The video shows Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel being stabbed during a church service that was being livestreamed on April 15. The nonfatal attack, which authorities said was a terrorist act motivated by suspected religious extremism, led to rioting outside the church.
Australia’s eSafety Commission has called for X to completely remove the video from its platform for all users, and not just block it in Australia. Most other major social media platforms have agreed to remove the video, but Musk argues that if X complies with the takedown order, then “what is to stop any country from controlling the entire Internet?”
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?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2024
We have already censored the content in question for… https://t.co/aca9E4uAB7
Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told an Australia television network Tuesday that the matter wasn’t about censorship, but rather “common sense and common decency.”
On Monday, a judge in Sydney ordered a temporary ban on the video for all X users, pending a hearing on Wednesday about a permanent ban.








