Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his federal government are using political capital, which they have a short supply of, escalating a fight with billionaire Elon Musk over censorship and free speech on Musk’s “X” social media site.
While the fight might be over a legitimate issue, broadcasting a stabbing on a new media platform, it is a minor issue when the facts are looked at. And it becomes an irrelevant issue when compared to the abuses by the old media which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the government refuse to take any action on.
Below is a picture of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and his alleged teenage attacker just before he was stabbed about 5 or 6 times. The photo is all over the internet on all major media websites and there has been no request by the government or police for the photos to be taken down.
Channel Nine on Wednesday’s 6pm news showed the video up to just before the first stab. On “X” (formerly known as Twitter) there was, and still is, video showing the full 5 or 6 stabs which goes further than Channel 9 but Channel 9 has a larger audience. If “X” is promoting violence isn’t Channel 9 as well? And what about the newspapers and websites with pictures like the one above?
And I just did a quick search on “X” and Google and you can see videos of people being shot dead in Gaza but the government hasn’t complained about those videos to my knowledge.
Background
The SMH reported on Monday (22/4/24)
Australia’s online watchdog won an injunction to force Elon Musk’s social platform X to hide videos of last week’s Sydney church stabbing as a high-powered ministerial taskforce leads a bid to tackle online algorithms pushing anti-women influencers.
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have joined the many politicians savaging digital platforms in recent days as momentum grows for new laws to assert Australia’s sovereignty after Musk rebuffed Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s take-down orders, calling them “unlawful and dangerous”.
Late on Monday, Inman Grant launched a Federal Court bid to force X to comply with the order. The court found in favour of the Australian regulator on an interim basis and decided the videos should be removed by putting them behind a notice within 24 hours. The order also applied to Meta, which Inman Grant said last week was co-operating with her demand to take videos down. (Click here to read more)
The SMH reported on Wednesday (24/4/24):
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil says X owner Elon Musk clearly has no interest in helping the government fix extreme problems and the parliament will have to step up.
Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise, O’Neil said the government would wait to see what happens from the court case but slammed Musk for his conduct.
“This is just a disgraceful act of this company. This and other social media companies are doing absolutely untold damage, creating vast problems in mental health, in spreading terrible attitudes around the world,” she said.
“They are creating civil division, social unrest, just about every problem that we have as a country is either being exacerbated or caused by social media.” (Click here to read more)
The irony of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil attacking “X” while she is doing an interview on Channel 7’s Sunrise show. Yes, the same Channel 7 that supported rapist Bruce Lehrmann while attacking his victim Brittany Higgins and the same Channel 7 that tried to cover-up war crimes by Ben Roberts-Smith.
In the below video Senator Jacqui Lambie says Elon Musk should be jailed. Twitter user Rothmus responds saying, “This Australian Senator should be in jail for censoring free speech on X.” Elon Musk responds and says, “Absolutely. She is an enemy of the people of Australia.”
Absolutely. She is an enemy of the people of Australia.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2024
Senator Jacqui Lambie saying Elon Musk should be jailed drew this response on Twitter: “That’s exactly what they did to Assange! Jailed him to silence the truth.”
National Press Club (24/4/24)
I found the National Press Club address timing interesting as it seems to be a coordinated attack by the government, ASIO and the AFP against Facebook and “X”.
But it all came unstuck when an ABC journalist asked AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw a question, as per the below video, about whether or not the AFP are investigating leaked text messages from Brittany Higgins’ mobile phone which were illegally given to Channel 7 who published some of them during 7’s interviews with Bruce Lehrmann.
What it highlighted is an old media company like Channel 7 is just as guilty as Facebook and “X” for publishing illegal material and 7 is obviously not cooperating with the AFP either. And the government won’t hold old media companies to account like they want to hold new media and social media companies to account.
I tweeted the below in response to AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw’s answer:
Dear @AusFedPolice, I've seen reports today that you are "reviewing how Brittany Higgins’ text messages landed on TV". Below is further evidence that police documents were leaked to News Corp's Janet Albrechtsen to harass rape survivor Brittany Higgins. #auspol #LehrmannCoverUp https://t.co/FW0iqYvhJo
— Kangaroo Court of Australia – Shane Dowling (@Kangaroo_Court) April 24, 2024
When you silence people on social media, or limit their free speech, you empower the old media like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Fox Corp, Kerry Stokes’ Seven West Media, the ABC and Nine Entertainment.
As I said at the beginning, it is a legitimate issue to have the video taken down, as it promotes a stabbing, but it would also be just as legitimate to have the photos taken down and stop the media showing even parts of the video as Channel 9 did on Wednesday and I suspect all the TV stations have.
So, while it is a legitimate issue it is also a minor issue and a strange issue for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the government to choose to battle Elon Musk on. Because all it does is highlight how Australia’s old media get preferential treatment from the government.
A Federal Court hearing is set down for the 10th of May which should be livestreamed given today’s directions hearing for the matter was livestreamed.
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It’s high time commercial media’s lies propaganda and misinformation was reigned in before the damage being done by Dutton and the LNP and news limited totally destroys what’s left of Australia’s fragile democracy and australia becomes just another version of the failed and dying USA
Don’t forget the unethical news outlets such as Channels 9,10, 2, 7, SBS and the Nine/Fairfax newspapers. We already are just another version of the USA.
I will support legislation to “censor” social media when the parliamentarians take a bipartisan commitment to eliminate pornography from the internet.
Labor,LNP & now Lambie are in furious agreement on the urgent need for censorship. Should they be successdul KC of A will be in the crosshairs as much as X & many other valuable sites for alternative,indeed satirical,views on the dire state of this country.
Labor already tried to implement a mandatory Internet filter back during the Rudd government. The only things stopping it were the Coalition and several ISPs who were opposed to it, including Telstra. Even if it went ahead, people could have easily bypass it using a VPN. Communications minister Conroy decided not to go after these, rendering the filter useless.
This is the same man who was beating his own chest, opposing a similar thing the Coalition introduced … Funny how politicians change their tune once they are in government.
Now 16 years later, the same Government is trying again with their CCP-style policies, including Digital ID, the persecution of whistleblowers, censorship of social media. These were all introduced in the last government we had to deal with. Now this government is so weak that they have to copy the Coalition just to please our allies.
Most of us keep voting in Tweedledum and Tweedledee … Maybe we deserve to have our democracy destroyed.
Talking about the recent brutal death of the woman in Forbes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described it as a “crisis”, noting that one woman a week dies at the hands of someone they know or someone they are in a relationship with. This year, that number is two women every nine days.
When asked if the crisis was a national emergency, the prime minister avoided labelling it one.
However, it seems the stabbing at the Wakeley Church, on a religious person, is a national emergency, an act of terrorism. Significant police numbers are working on it. As Shane wrote violent acts are regularly seen on screens. The attempt to cut the video on X is strange, limiting free speech, and we know Labor doesn’t like social media.
Even the Minister affected, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel wants the footage to stay online.
Domestic violence is terrrorism. Against a woman or/and children.
It needs to be treated as such. And significant programs need to be developed to change the perpetrator’s behaviour. Or keep these terrorists in jail.
Yet anyone who harms a woman often gets off with a slap on the wrist. Or an attempt for justice is too gruelling. Is it the Australian problem of devaluating women? A paternalistic and/or misogynistic streak in many?
Politicians and police are not interested in protecting women from violence. There will be another woman killed in NSW soon. What are you PM Albanese going to do to stop this violence, terrorism against women?
Molly Ticehurst, from Forbes asked for help. She got none. Most women who are terrorised by men get no help. The police aren’t always interested.
Peter Dutton’s saying of “she said, he said” ( as he described the Brittany Higgins saga ) seems to trivialise violence against women. Seems the common belief of politicians and police.
At least name publicly any person accused of domestic violence.
The Child Protection people say they need over 500 more staff. Damaged children ignored by governments could grow up to be dysfunctional adults.
Very well said Irene. Politicians, as a general rule, have many negative traits and one of them is hypocrisy.
Just what the hell is going on? Take a look at the Trump trial.
The investigation of “Catch and kill”, news media Trump has hired the “National Inquirer” among several other still unnamed media, to attack opponents with contrived stories and provide glowing reports on Trump, that has hired the media to do so. This formula sound familiar in Australia, well it should, this is what we have had for decades.
From the get go in this Liberal party staffers rape, by the other Liberal staffer in the Liberal Ministers office, while the Liberal party were in office just prior to an election. The usual suspect LNP/Media has been “Hired” to attack Higgins credibility “All women credibility” and provide glowing references to Lehrmann and the LNP. This is not the only case, there have been numerous attacks on women in the Liberal party, with payments to the abused woman. Books have been written about it by Liberal party women.
We all know the usual suspects in this, ” Catch and kill media” are, don’t we. They have been named in the Soffrenof inquiry that is now under investigation.
And if anyone is wondering why woman have been abused and are constantly victims of assaults and being murdered in the country, take a look at these same usual media suspects opposition to the “Me too movement”? This media we have had inflicted on us needs to be cleaned up ASAP. They mention social media, but its really the MSM that is the clear and present threat, especially to women. Many people are seeing this unhinged and out of control MSM as the problem and the cause of the breakdown in our society.
Exactly! Strange how many refuse to see their own hypocrisy when they choose a subject matter that exacerbates their own flaws.
Is there any evidence that showing a video of (say) a stabbing promotes a greater likelihood of adverse consequences than a written report of the event?
Albanese is following the Barry Unsworth strategy to turn victory at the next election into a resounding defeat that Austrlian voters simply cannot afford.
Returning the Anus Taylor crook to Treasury would make Malysian financial mismanagement look like a kindergarten picnic, while the Xhristian ethics Beetrooter Joyce, adultery, alcoholism and sexual harassment spell out the duplicity of too many politicians today.
Remove the title “honourable’ from politicians, they are not worthy of it.
Democracy in Australia is dead, democracy is the “rule of the people, and that the people have a right to rule.” Over the decades Governments no longer are listening to the people, our country is failing to protect its citizens particularly women and children who are the most vulnerable. It seems the laws are protecting the perpetrators of crime more.
The benefits of democracy are to free speech, the rule of law, (including the people who make the law.)
Australian governments no longer respect human dignity, or are responsive and accountable to the people, they are no longer providing safe and secure communities.
People should have the freedom to act, speak and think freely (as long as it does not stop others doing the same).
I don’t think Australia has ever been a democracy. We started the modern era as a colonial monarchy and have never achieved democracy. Our senate is made of 12 senators per state regardless of population, so we often have a Tasmanian calling the shots. They have 12 senators for half a million people.
I think our ‘propaganda’ does not start in the media, it starts in our schools.
How many of us learned at school the Second Fleet of convicts to Australia was outsourced to slave traders or that Britain was Europe’s biggest slave trader? What about Britain selling opium to China and they had 2 wars trying to stop it? Conveniently, ANZAC Day avoids the Opium Wars 🙂
As a result we get media tycoons in Australia who are totally brainwashed and think imperialism is doing it’s victims a favor by destroying them. I can’t believe Channel 7 the ‘home of footy’ allows the AFL to cover-up drug use in the code. Where is the ethics in that? Why is the AFL and a certain rapist allowed to use drugs while drugs are stopped at the airport by Border Force? This hasn’t clicked in the small brain of at least one media tycoon.
I watched the National Press Club (NPC – 24/04/2024).
Fair Dinkum!
It suddenly came to me some hours later, BURGESS + KERSHAW reminded me of the TV show I watched as a boy; the Flower Pot Men (1950-60s). Some of you may know of them. It is the story of Bill and Ben, TWO LITTLE MEN made of flower pots who lived at the bottom of a suburban garden.
They spoke a largely NONSENSICAL version of English, called Oddle Poddle. The language added extra syllables such as “ickle” or “kickle” to words, making it sound like gibberish – for example, an icicle became an “ickle-kickle”. Ben’s trademark saying was the nonsense word, “flobabdob”.
That is indeed all I seemed to hear at the NPC.
A third character, Little Weed, ALBO, of indeterminate species resembling either a sunflower or dandelion with a smiling face and just plain obnoxious, was shown growing between two larger flowerpots.
These three were also sometimes visited by a tortoise called Slowcoach, WONG, and, in one particular episode, the trio met a faintly mysterious character made out of potatoes, Dan, SPUD, the potato man.
After they had the typical mis adventure and the gardener approached, the flower pot men then would vanish into their pots and the “Goodbye” screen would appear.
The final punchline was,
” … and I think the little house knew something about it; don’t you?”.
YES. I THINK WE ALL CLEARLY DO!!!
You’ve blown their cover, Fred. Just be wary of secretive characters in trench coats take up station in your neighbourhood.
Jim R
I have just published a video on YouTube titled “Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s battle with billionaire Elon Musk’s “X” set for hearing on 12/5/24″ Click here: https://youtu.be/AX3UV8JCGZk
Politicians, Media organisations, corporations all have a vested interest in making sure that they control the narrative. We are constantly told by media “personalities” what a cesspool SM is but frankly our corporate media is a cesspool of disinformation & manufactured consent. Obviously there’s a lot of advantages for the people to have a voice in the town square & that’s a problem for the vested interests. organising protests, sharing footage of war crimes as they are sent from the victims asking to be seen, filming abuses of power & holding to account those that need to be. Rather than censoring content, the govt should be focusing on the real issues of algorithms that divide society & lead people into all kinds of rabbit holes. They can focus on esafety & critical thinking skills at schools. They can put a filter over content that might be offensive & both platforms & govt can allow consumers to choose & manage their content for themselves