Elon Musk's X sues the Australian government in 'free speech' battle after its 'world-first' e-Safety Commissioner ordered an 'offensive' post to be taken down

Elon Musk's X is suing the Australian government after its 'world-first' E-Safety Commissioner ordered an 'offensive' post to be removed from the platform.

Daily Mail Australia last week revealed that X faced an $800,000 fine if it did not remove a post written by Canadian man Chris Elston, in which he misgendered and made 'disparaging' remarks about an Australian citizen, Teddy Cook. 

Cook, 45, a female-to-male trans man who has advocated for taxpayer-funded surgeries for all transgender Australians, was controversially appointed to a World Health Organisation expert panel.

X, formerly called Twitter, complied with the request of the government-run E-Safety Commissioner and geo-blocked the post in Australia.

But the demand backfired spectacularly when it led to the offending post being re-shared in a different format and viewed hundreds of thousands of times. 

Now, X has revealed it will mount a legal challenge against the Commissioner to 'protect its user's right to free speech'. 

'Earlier this week, X was ordered by the Australian E-Safety Commissioner, subject to an approximately $800,000 AUD fine, to remove a user's post,' a statement from X's Global Government Affairs team said.

'The post had criticized an individual appointed by the World Health Organization to serve as an expert on transgender issues. 

'X is withholding the post in Australia in compliance with the order but intends to file a legal challenge to the order to protect its user's right to free speech.'

It is understood the e-Safety Commissioner is yet to receive a formal legal challenge. 

If X follows through, the challenge will likely take the form of a judicial review in the Federal Court. 

X is currently engaged in a separate judicial review in the Federal Court over its alleged failure to provide information to the e-Safety Commissioner about how the platform was tackling child abuse material on the platform. 

Mr Elston's alleged offence came when he shared a Daily Mail story in late February about Mr Cook.

Cook's now-private social media posts are awash with X-rated material, including public nudity, bondage parties, trans orgies and even a photo of a man apparently having sex with a dog.  

While Daily Mail Australia does not suggest those revelations should exclude Cook from advising the WHO on trans healthcare, some have questioned his appropriateness for the role. 

In his post, Mr Elston misgendered Cook and made other 'disparaging' remarks.

On March 22, Mr Elston received a letter from the Australian government-run eSafety Commissioner, demanding that he remove the 'deliberately degrading' post.  

'An ordinary reasonable person in the position of the Complainant would regard the Material as being offensive,' an unnamed delegate of the eSafety Commissioner wrote to Mr Elston.

'This is because the Material singles out the Complainant to personify the poster's contempt for transgender identity as well as equating transgender identity with a psychiatric condition.'

It is understood Cook lodged the complaint with the e-Safety Commissioner himself.

The order demanded that if the post was not removed within 24 hours, X would be fined up to $782,500.

Mr Elston, a vociferous campaigner against 'gender ideology', refused to remove 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 140,000 times and a concerted campaign to re-share it by others has racked up over a million views.

In response to this publication's original story, Billionaire X owner Musk said: 'What is the world coming to?' 

The taxpayer-funded eSafety Commissioner later 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 E-Safety 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 condemned the alleged waste of Aussie taxpayer's money. 

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. 

Almost 500 civil servants are employed by the eSafety Commissioner and the Australian Communications and Media Authority, according to its latest annual report. 

The eSafety Commissioner lauds itself as the 'first government agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online'. 

It is run by former Twitter Director of Public Policy, Australia & SE Asia, Julie Inman-Grant, who receives an annual salary of almost $445,000.

Ms Grant, an American who began her career working in the US Congress, worked at Microsoft for 17 years, eventually rising to the role of Global Director for Safety and Privacy Policy and Outreach before she joined Twitter.

She has previously criticised the 'toxic environment' at Twitter, as it was then known. 

Ms Grant was reappointed for a further five-year term in her role as eSafety Commissioner by the Australian government in January 2022.