Censorship Battle Reaches New Heights in Land Down Under

While mainstream media outlets have excitedly reported on the feud between Musk and Albanese, almost entirely lost in the coverage is the fact that the Australian government asserts that it has the right to hide from the Australian people the truth about what is happening in their own country. Rather than actually being concerned about “showing violence,” Albanese and his government are evidently far more worried that they might lose control over the narrative if people are allowed to share videos and information that the government does not want shared.

By standing up to Albanese and refusing to remove the content from X’s servers, Musk accomplished two important things. First, he forced the Australian government to answer tough questions about the danger from Islamic extremism – a topic they would rather ignore. Second, he forced the corporate media to continue covering a story they’d rather let die because it doesn’t fit their preferred narrative.

This incident is just the latest example of how Musk, the electric car pioneer and aerospace mogul, has become the world’s most prominent champion of free speech.

Just before the start of his drama with Albanese, Musk waded into another public dispute with the Brazilian government over its effort to censor and deplatform supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

In recent years, Alexandre de Moraes, the head of Brazil’s top elections court, began demanding social media companies take down hundreds of accounts questioning the integrity of Brazil’s elections, along with arresting users who posted content Moraes deemed “disinformation.”

X had initially complied with the requests, but on April 6 Musk announced he was “lifting all restrictions” and restoring the banned accounts. “This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees and cut off access to X in Brazil,” Musk said. “As a result, we will probably lose all revenue in Brazil and have to shut down our office there. But principles matter more than profit.”

Musk and X are also facing an investigation from the European Union after E.U. regulators accused the company of failing to do enough to counter “illicit content” and “disinformation.” Under the new “Digital Services Act,” The European Union has asserted the right to control any and all content online, and to fine companies that refuse to comply.

But instead of backing down, Musk has challenged the E.U. to explicitly list X’s supposed violations, rather than just make vague references to “disinformation” and “toxic materials.” So far, the E.U. has not responded to that request.

Liberal governments have never been more determined to control the spread of information online. But with leaders like Elon Musk committed to upholding the principles of free speech – most importantly protecting speech some may disagree with – there remains reason for optimism.

Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.