Michael Shellenberger: Australia's “eSafety Czar” Pursuing Global Internet Censorship, By James Reed
The internet censorship issue arising from the Sydney stabbings, but now mainly focussed upon the stabbing of Orthodox Christian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, has gained international attention, and almost all of it bad, from leading intellectuals, even some from the Left in America. For example, American author and journalist Michael Shellenberger, has argued that the eSafety commissioner's requirement that Elon Musk's X remove the video of the Sydney stabbing from the internet even in America, where it would be permitted today under the First Amendment, is global internet censorship. He wrote on his website:
"Inman Grant may be working with other governments to create identity
requirements and to stamp out Virtual Private Networks, which millions
of people in China and other totalitarian societies use to access the
free Internet," the American journalist wrote in his X post.
"Many of us, myself included, have long suspected that government
censors in Ireland, Scotland, and the European Union would attempt to
censor the whole of the Internet, not just in their own countries. With
Brazil, and now Australia, demanding the power to censor the whole
Internet, it's clear that our fears were more than justified."
As well, he had a revealing quote from the commissioner where she said: "We have a big stick that we can use when we
want to … They're going to be regulated in ways that they don't want to
be regulated."
I think this is a good turn of affairs to open up all that is happening in Australia to international scrutiny. We have yet to see what will happen when Australia is taken to places such as the international courts for the issue to be debated at international law. Even a decision against this by the US Supreme Court will create a conflict of laws situation. The Albo government deserves international embarrassment.
"American author and journalist Michael Shellenberger has weighed in on
the dispute between X and Australia's eSafety commissioner, warning the
latter was attempting to "pursue global internet censorship."
Mr. Shellenberger described American-born Julie Inman Grant as the
"eSafety czar in Australia" and a "key architect" behind the
multi-governmental Global Online Safety Regulators Network to "censor
the speech that politicians and government bureaucrats fear."
The global online safety network consists of seven members including
representatives from Australia, France, the UK, Ireland, Korea, South
Africa and Fiji. Ms. Grant previously said at a Senate Estimates hearing
that the network aimed to "work together to achieve better safety
outcomes for all of our citizens."
In a post on X on April 24, Mr. Shellenberger described the network as a
global body to "unify governments around censorship" and give
"governments extraordinary power to invade privacy."
"Inman Grant may be working with other governments to create identity
requirements and to stamp out Virtual Private Networks, which millions
of people in China and other totalitarian societies use to access the
free Internet," the American journalist wrote in his X post.
"Many of us, myself included, have long suspected that government
censors in Ireland, Scotland, and the European Union would attempt to
censor the whole of the Internet, not just in their own countries. With
Brazil, and now Australia, demanding the power to censor the whole
Internet, it's clear that our fears were more than justified."
The post also showed an interview of Ms. Grant on the All Tech Is Human
channel, in which she said, "We have a big stick that we can use when we
want to … They're going to be regulated in ways that they don't want to
be regulated."
In another
<https://alltechishuman.org/all-tech-is-human-blog/julie-inman-grant-esafety-commissioner-of-australia-to-speak-at-upcoming-responsible-tech-summit-in-nyc>
interview with All Tech Is Human, Ms. Grant revealed her first job
interview out of university was "at the CIA to analyse the psychology of
serial killers" but she ended up "taking a role on Capital Hill with my
hometown congressman" and worked on "a range of social justice issues."
She also pointed out that the biggest issues facing social media
companies would be "the force of global governments regulating them in
ways that might be both unworkable, inconsistent and detrimental to
their future growth."
At a Senate Estimate in February, the commissioner explained that all of
her powers were bestowed by the Online Safety Act, which she said
decided the threshold for online that would require her office to regulate.
The <https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/whats-on/online-safety-act>
Online Safety Act, which passed the Australian Parliament in 2021 under
the Morrison government, "sets out what the Australian government now
expects from online service providers" and "raised the bar by
establishing a wide-ranging set of Basic Online Safety Expectations,"
according to the eSafety Commission website.
Shellenberger Criticises Jacqui Lambie
Australian politicians have been united in criticising Elon Musk for
refusing to impose a global ban on the footage of a western Sydney
church stabbing—as requested by Ms. Grant's office.
Independent Senator Jacquie Lambie didn't hold back with her criticism
of Mr. Musk, calling for the billionaire to be "jailed" for not complying.
"The power that that man has because of that platform he's on, it's got
to stop," she said.
Mr. Shellenberger described the comments as "truly disgusting behaviour."
He said violent material online can be "disturbing" and platforms should
put warning labels on them and prevent minors from viewing it.
However, he argued that the Australian government has gone beyond trying
to limit violent content and is targeting political speech.
"Nothing can justify the Australian government censoring the entire
global Internet of content it does not like," he said.
"What's truly disgusting behavior is calling for the incarceration of
someone for refusing to censor the entire global Internet on behalf of a
single nation," he said.
"It is not the right of any nation to decide what should be on the
Internet around the world."
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