...you'd have imagine if Elon's version of 'no holds barred' freedom of speech and freedom to post whatever 'sh*t' is an attack on institutions of law and civility, that over time, if held unchecked, would usurp power from traditional mainstream news and the Govt itself.
...social media, as I had opined to my family years ago, brings more evil than good. I wasn't wrong. It has even consumed our kids to the point that parental guidance becomes a lesser influential factor. It has disseminated hatred and prejudice to point of no control.
...the part I never understood is why it took so long for Govts to act. A Failure to Act is an Act of Failure.
....for starters, the onus should be placed on posters on what they cannot post e.g offensive stuff, including but not limited to acts of violence and hatred, and if they do, posters should be suspended and social media platform fined a considerable amount. Social media platforms should also be compelled to invest in sufficient governance/compliance crew to check and censor where applicable those offensive posts as condition of licensing. Musk’s X operating ‘above the law’: Dutton Tom McIlroyPolitical correspondent
Updated Apr 21, 2024 – 12.13pm,first published at 12.00pm
Both sides of federal politics have pledged tougher action against social media giants spreading distressing and inflammatory content, with Peter Dutton describing X’s refusal to take down footage from the Sydney stabbings as a sign the platform considers itself above the law.
X has rejected demands from Australia’s eSafety commissioner to remove footage of the attack against Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a live-streamed church service last week, as X owner Elon Musk derided the legal orders by commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
“The Australian censorship commissar is demanding *global* content bans,” Musk said at the weekend, as the platform’s global governance affairs account said X would robustly challenge take-down orders it considered “unlawful and dangerous”.
Ms Inman Grant has worked with other platforms, including Meta. X faces direct legal action and fines of as much as $782,000 for each day the content remains online.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Sunday the Coalition was prepared to back Labor’s draft misinformation laws, provided the draft strikes the right balance between protecting freedom of speech and limiting the proliferation of harmful content online.
“We are happy to have a look at anything that government puts forward,” he said.
Mr Dutton said the social media companies had “snubbed their noses” at governments around the world for many years, including in the United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Australia.
“They’re allowing paedophiles to distribute, through their networks, images and videos of children being sexually abused. They’re impeding the investigations of the police. So, there are many aspects here that we need to deal with,” he told ABC TV.
Mr Dutton signalled a willingness to work with Labor to boost legal powers for companies doing the wrong thing.
“The same laws need to apply in the real world as they do online, and it’s a matter of enforcing the laws and taking action, giving the eSafety commissioner further powers, if that’s required.
“But I think here we’re talking about images in particular, which are offensive and which can trigger violent reactions, as we saw [in Sydney].”
The laws would grant new powers to the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the creation of an industry-generated code of conduct for platforms, and additional powers for ACMA to impose strict standards if it decides the code is not stopping mis- and disinformation.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt told Sky on Sunday that Mr Musk’s comments were “exactly what you’d expect” from the hardline free speech advocate.
“He doesn’t think he seems to owe any obligation to any member of the public. Quite frankly, I think the public’s had a gutful of these narcissistic billionaires who think they are above the law.”
Senator Watt said social media platforms should pay more attention to the effect their content has in the real world.
“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, and they should comply with the laws like everyone else does.”
