A significant win for freedom of speech took place recently as Elon Musk, tech tycoon, got Justice Geoffrey Kennett of the Australian Federal Court, on his side. Now, this is no small feat, considering the magnitude of Australia’s Ministry of Truth he was up against.
This all started on May 13 when Justice Kennett outrightly blocked the extension of an injunction issued by Julie Inman Grant, Australia’s e-Safety Commissioner. This injunction was targeted at restricting a video where an Australian Bishop was seen getting stabbed during Mass. The video was regarded by the government as offensive, but Musk and his tech firm X took a stand and fiercely defended the freedom of speech.
SkyNews Australia hinted that Justice Kennett would be giving his own reasons for the ruling soon, but Musk didn’t wait for that. He quickly took to X to repeatedly assert his firm belief in the principle of free speech globally. His post was pretty straightforward, claiming that the aim was not to win anything but to defend Australia’s rights to free speech.
The injunction that sparked this resistance was issued by Grant on April 16. She had instructed X to not just block the video from Australian viewers but to ban it from global viewership as well. To add salt to the wound, there was an enormous daily fine of $785,000 AUD looming, should X disobey.
X team wasn’t taking this lying down. They questioned Grant’s jurisdiction over non-Australian users and then made a case before Justice Kennett, arguing that the video didn’t glorify violence or terrorism, contrary to the Australian Government’s claims.
As the saga was unfolding in the courts, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, the victim in the contentious video, backed Musk and free speech publicly. He underscored it as the bedrock of Western civilization and a fundamental natural right.
Even as Musk received lots of flak and threats of legal action for his audacious stance on free speech, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese singled out X as uncooperative with their censorship initiatives. They claimed that Musk was going against Australian citizens’ will, which we know isn’t true, given the broader implications of this verdict.
To conclude, this court ruling is a slap in the face to censor-happy authorities and vindication of conservatives all over. Freedom of speech is not a luxury but a right—a point that the Australian authorities would do well to remember. It’s certainly a valuable reminder that we ought to reach out to our leaders and push for transparency, clarity, and fairness in the tech sphere. We must demand that Big Tech acknowledge and respect the principles of free speech in line with the First Amendment. Elon Musk, through this lawsuit, shows us precisely how we can stand up to overreaching authorities.
