Elon Musk calls Australia ‘fascists’, attacks social media laws targeting misinformation

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has labelled the Australian government as “fascists” over proposed new laws to crack down on digital misinformation, particularly on social media websites.

Under the proposed legislation, which have yet to pass parliament, social media companies could be fined up to 5 per cent of their annual revenue if they fail to take steps to “manage the risk that misinformation and disinformation on digital communications platforms poses in Australia”.

“Misinformation and disinformation pose a serious threat to the safety and well-being of Australians, as well as to our democracy, society and economy,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said in a statement on Thursday. “Doing nothing and allowing this problem to fester is not an option.”

In an explanatory memo accompanying the legislation, the government made clear it wanted to set a high standard for what qualified as misinformation. In addition, the laws will carve out exceptions for “professional news, content that would reasonably be regarded as parody or satire” as well as “the reasonable dissemination of content for any academic, artistic, scientific or religious purpose”.