The Coalition says it is prepared to back the government's proposed misinformation laws in light of the social media response to the violent scenes at two stabbing attacks in Sydney last week.
Billionaire Elon Musk has provoked fury from Labor and Liberal politicians after fighting an order to remove graphic footage of the stabbing attacks from social media platform X.
Overnight, Mr Musk said the e-safety commissioner's takedown order on the footage was a demand for "global content bans" by Australia's "censorship commissar".
X has since claimed it will remove the content while it challenges the "unlawful and dangerous approach" in court.
Separately, social media platforms have been under scrutiny after a Sydney man was wrongly identified as the Bondi Junction Westfield attacker, in what appeared to be a deliberate misinformation campaign.
Speaking on ABC's Insiders, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Mr Musk could not ignore the law.
"I think there's a bipartisan position in relation to this, we know that the companies, and we've seen some of the comments from Elon Musk overnight, they see themselves as above the law, and Australian law should apply equally in the real world as it does online," Mr Dutton said.
Loading..."When Elon Musk says … the Australian law can't apply to other parts of the world, I'm sure that's the case, but in terms of the content which is displayed here or broadcast here, the Australian law does apply.
"I think what they're worried about is the flow onto other markets if Australia's laws are upheld, and that's all the more reason for us to take a stance, it's important for us but for other democracies as well."
The Liberal leader also signalled a shift in stance on proposed laws that would make voluntary industry standards legally enforceable against social media companies.
The federal government proposed strengthening the Australian Communications and Media Authority's powers to be able to look under the hood of platforms to see that they were complying with industry standards, with the ability to impose fines on companies who repeatedly breached those standards.
But that legislation was delayed, with a promise to rework it, after concerns it would cause companies to over-censor to avoid penalties, and criticisms by Mr Dutton and others that it was an "Orwellian" policy that would restrict free speech.
Mr Dutton said the government's first step should be to take up the recommendations by the e-safety commissioner last year for an age verification scheme.
But he said the Coalition would be prepared to back the misinformation laws if they struck the right balance.
"The Online Safety Act has significant powers in it, we passed it when we were in government, it needs to be enforced and if the laws are inadequate and they need to be strengthened or added to then we would support any effort by the government," he said.
"We need to get the right balance, we don't want to impinge on your ability to express a view in a democracy.
"But they need to do it respectfully … and it's a matter of enforcing the laws, taking action, giving the e-safety commissioner further powers if that is required, but I think here we're talking about images in particular which are offensive and which can trigger violent reactions, which we saw earlier this week."
Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said Mr Musk had offended the Australian public, and his response was proof the laws were needed.
"It's exactly what you'd expect from Elon Musk, he doesn't think he seems to owe any obligation to any member of the public, and quite frankly I think the public has had a gutful of these narcissistic billionaires who think they are above the law," Senator Watt told Sky News.
"They have a responsibility as producers and disseminators of information to do the right thing by the public, they make a lot of money off the public, billions of dollars a year, and I think they owe us all a responsibility.
"I think it's entirely fair we go after them."
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2024-04-21 01:04:29Z
CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTA0LTIxL29wcG9zaXRpb24tYmFja3Mtc29jaWFsLW1lZGlhLWNyYWNrZG93bi1hZnRlci1zeWRuZXktc3RhYmJpbmdzLzEwMzc1MDU0ONIBAA
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