'World-first' eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant exposed: How taxpayer's ... trends now
The Australian government's attempts to police online speech have descended into farce after its 'world's first' eSafety Commissioner admitted it was effectively powerless to stop people re-sharing 'banned' posts.
On Tuesday, Daily Mail Australia revealed the Australian government tried to force a Canadian man called Chris Elston to delete an 'offensive' post about a UN trans expert, threatening X owner Elon Musk with an $800,000 fine if it was not removed from the platform.
Mr Elston, who goes by the name of 'Billboard Chris' on X and lives in Canada, refused to delete the post.
When X subsequently complied with the 'removal order' by geo-blocking the post in Australia, Mr Elston simply re-shared the offending post.
In a colossal back-fire for the e-Safety Commissioner, that post alone has been seen over 130,000 times and a concerted campaign to re-share it by others has racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
In response to this publication's story, Billionaire X owner Musk said: 'What is the world coming to?'
Chris Elston (pictured above), who goes by the name of 'Billboard Chris' on X and lives in Canada, revealed on Tuesday he had been sent an Orwellian 'removal notice' from the Australian Government's eSafety Commissioner for making an 'offensive' post about trans expert Teddy Cook (pictured below). He refused to delete it and re-shared it, which has since been viewed thousands of times
UN trans expert Teddy Cook is pictured
Now the taxpayer-funded eSafety Commissioner, which is run by Julie Inman Grant (pictured) - who receives a salary of almost $445,000 - has admitted it can only block or remove the subsequent posts if other complaints are made by the offended party
Now, the taxpayer-funded eSafety Commissioner has admitted it can only block or remove the subsequent posts if other complaints are made by the offended party.
'eSafety's Adult Cyber Abuse Scheme is a complaints-based scheme,' a spokesperson for the eSafety Commissioner told Daily Mail Australia.
'In cases where a new version of the material has been posted after a removal notice has been issued and complied with, we require a new complaint from the targeted Australian resident - or someone authorised to report on their behalf - to take regulatory action.'
This effectively means the 'world's first' online safety regulator could be engaged in an endless game of whack-a-mole as it attempts to police speech online.
Political figures were lining up to condemn the alleged waste of Aussie taxpayer's money.
'What is the world coming to?', X owner Elon Musk commented on Daily Mail Australia's original story (pictured below)
David Limbrick, MP for South Eastern Metropolitan in Victoria, accused the regulator of bringing 'our nation into disrepute'.
'I want to feel proud to be Australian. I want Australia to be a beacon of freedom in the world,' Mr Limbrick wrote.
'Instead, the world laughs at our stupidity. We need to shift towards the defence of freedom.'
Meanwhile, Independent Liberal member MP Moira Deeming described the e-Safety Commisioner as the 'Ministry of Truth', referencing George Orwell's novel 1984.
'We reject your Orwellian dystopia,' Ms Deeming added.
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