Elon Musk Labels Australian Government ‘Fascist’ Over New Misinformation Law

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has attacked the Australian government over a law that allows social media firms to be fined for failing to stop the spread of misinformation online. Musk has called the Australian government fascist. Australia’s Labor government introduced a law yesterday that could fine internet platforms up to five percent of their global revenue for promoting misinformation.

It is aimed at joining efforts being made around the world to rein in tech giants. The law that Australia is preparing to introduce will set a code of conduct to prevent the spread of dangerous lies by tech platforms and must be approved by the regulator. If a platform fails to do so, the regulator will set its own standard and fines will be imposed for not following the rules. Musk responded to a post by an ‘X’ user about the misinformation law, adding a word, fascist.

Australian government minister Bill Shorten said that Elon Musk’s position on freedom of expression is worse than Kama Sutra. When it is for his business interests, he is a supporter of freedom of expression and when he does not like it, he completely shuts it down.

In a previous confrontation with the Australian government, in April, ‘X’ had approached the court to challenge the cyber regulator’s order to remove some posts about the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney, after which PM Anthony Albanese called Elon Musk an arrogant billionaire. ( PLC & GT )