Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister of Australia, has called Elon Musk an ‘arrogant billionaire’.
The Australian authorities and social media companies, including Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), have been locked in a battle over footage of the recent knife attack in Sydney, with the Australian government demanding the companies remove footage of the attacks.
On 13 April Joel Cauchi attacked people with a knife in a Sydney mall, killing six people and wounding 12, including a nine-month-old child. Cauchi was shot and killed by a policewoman. The motive for the attack is not clear, but Cauchi has a history of mental health problems.
Footage of the attack was shared on various social media platforms.
On Monday an Australian court said that X must hide videos of the attacks.
The battle between the Australian government and X has sparked questions over whether a national government has the authority to ban footage from being shown in other countries, and not just the one where it has authority.
Albanese was quoted as saying: ‘I find it extraordinary that X chose not to comply and are trying to argue their case’. He also said Musk thought he was above the law.