Elon musk, Billboard Chris win in court against eSafety takedown notice on Teddy Cook post
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday evening, rescinds a takedown order issued by eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant over a controversial social media post on X from February 2024.
In the post, Mr Elston slammed the proposed appointment of Mr Cook, a biological female, to a World Health Organisation panel on healthcare delivery.
Mr Elston, who goes by the X name Billboard Chris, took aim at WHO's panel of experts hired to draft policy regarding trans people while also misgendering Mr Cook.
The post reads: 'This woman (yes, she's female) is part of a panel of 20 'experts' hired by the WHO to draft their policy on caring for 'trans people'. People who belong in psychiatric wards are writing the guidelines for people who belong in psychiatric wards.'
Ms Grant labelled the remarks 'degrading' and issued a takedown notice to X on March 22, threatening the company with a fine of up to $782,500 for any refusal to remove the post.
X complied and the post was blocked, but the company and Mr Elston filed a legal challenge against the notice, and on Tuesday evening, ART deputy president O'Donovan ruled in their favour, setting aside the removal order.
'The post, although phrased offensively, is consistent with views Mr Elston has expressed elsewhere in circumstances where the expression of the view had no malicious intent,' Mr O'Donovan said.
'For example, his statement placed on billboards that he is prepared to wear in public 'children are never born in the wrong body' expresses the same idea about the immutability of biology that he expresses, albeit much more provocatively, in the post.
'When the evidence is considered as a whole, I am not satisfied that an ordinary reasonable person would conclude that by making the post Mr Elston intended to cause Mr Cook serious harm.'
Mr O'Donovan also said there was no evidence Mr Elston intended for Mr Cook to read or receive the post.
'In the absence of any evidence that Mr Elston intended that Mr Cook would receive and read the post, and in light of the broader explanation as to why Mr Elston made the post, I am satisfied that an ordinary reasonable person would not conclude that it is likely that the post was intended to have an effect of causing serious harm to Mr Cook,' the ruling reads.
The ruling centred around the Online Safety Act, which offers a reporting scheme for adult cyber abuse.
The Act defines adult cyber abuse as material targeting a particular Australian adult that is both intended to cause serious harm and is also menacing, harassing or offensive in all circumstances.
If the material meets both of these two criteria, eSafety holds the power to order its removal.
The ruling has been heralded in some quarters as a victory for freedom of speech.
Victorian Liberal parliamentarian Moira Deeming celebrated the ruling on X, writing, 'Wow! Than you Billboard Chris and Elon Musk.'
Alliance Defending Freedom International executive director Paul Coleman called the ruling a 'decisive win' for free speech.
'In this case, the Australian government alarmingly censored the peaceful expression of a Canadian citizen on an American-owned platform, evidence of the expansive reach of censorial forces, even beyond national borders,' he said.
'This is a victory not just for Billboard Chris but for every Australian – and indeed every citizen who values the fundamental right to free speech.'
Mr Cook was formerly ACON's director of LGBTQ+ community health.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
‘Back home': Donald Trump's Elon Musk threat shocks the world
ANALYSIS July 4 is traditionally a time of fireworks for the United States. But Elon Musk got the party started early. Not only has his latest attempt to launch his enormous Starship rocket failed in flames, he's initiated another online flame-war with his former employer – US President Donald Trump. This time, it's explosive. 'Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa,' Trump quipped as their war of words flared again this week. Former Special Government Employee turned born-again CEO Elon Musk is angry. Not at the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda. But with the way it handles money. Musk, the founding figure behind Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has called the budget 'utterly insane and destructive' and 'political suicide.' He's spent much of the past fortnight lobbying Republicans to vote against it. 'This bill raises the debt ceiling by $5 TRILLION, the biggest increase in history, putting America in the fast lane to debt slavery!' the world's richest man posted on his personal social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). Trump was busy trying to railroad Republican senators and house representatives into casting his Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda in concrete before the national July 4 celebrations (FRIDAY NIGHT). But he found time to fire back. The 47th President used his own personal social media service, Truth Social, to threaten the cancellation of government contracts with Musk's companies. 'You know, he can lose a lot more than that, I'll tell you right now,' Trump added. 'Elon can lose a lot more than that.' The Commander-in-Chief insists his Federal Government spending bill is 'big, beautiful'. His former 'First Buddy' calls it a 'disgusting abomination'. Trump's promise to slash government spending was the centrepiece of his 2024 election pitch. Musk was his greatest cheerleader, pitching $440 million towards Republican campaign costs. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has done the math on the President's Big Beautiful Bill and found it will add more than $A5 trillion to the $A55 trillion US national debt. And that has Musk feeling he hasn't gotten his money's worth. Party games Musk's return to full-time CEO has done nothing to change the fortunes of his troubled electric car manufacturing brand, Tesla. Vehicle deliveries over the past three months are down a record 13 per cent on the previous year. The three-month Trump-Musk bromance evaporated in an emotional outburst on June 5. Musk was unhappy with the impact of Trump's sweeping tariffs on imports. And the draft of the administration's first budget wasn't what he expected. So Musk lashed out. The world's richest man accused the world's most powerful man of suppressing his presence in the Epstein Files – a list of collaborative sex offenders, including Britain's Prince Andrew. Then, the South African-Canadian-US multinational appeared to quietly back down. After all, a lot of money rides on the survival of his SpaceX rocket launch contracts. Now Musk says he doesn't want Trump's money anyway. He says his hi-tech cars should never have been given government subsidies in the first place. And nor should any others. 'I am literally saying CUT IT ALL,' Musk retorted in a tweet. 'Now.' And he's maintaining his rage against big government spending. 'Hitting the debt ceiling is the only thing that will actually force the government to cut waste and fraud,' Musk added. (Previously, he had insisted DOGE could do that job.) 'That's why the debt ceiling legislation exists!' Earlier this year, Musk promised to donate an additional $440 million towards Republican midterm election campaigning. Now, like Trump, Musk is threatening to run personally chosen candidates against Republican politicians who defy his will. 'They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' Musk threatened at the weekend. 'Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people.' A few hours later, he posted: 'If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day. Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.' It's a strategy that hasn't worked so far for disgruntled Australian billionaire Clive Palmer. But Palmer doesn't have anywhere near the cash to splash as Elon does. Or a privately owned social media platform. From welfare to warfare Trump on Monday accused Musk of collecting 'more subsidy than any human being in history, by far'. And the former reality TV host and property developer has his fingers on Capitol Hill's purse strings. 'No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE,' Trump added. 'Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!' To add insult to injury, the creation of DOGE was a personal ambition of Musk's. He spent the first four months of Trump's second term wielding personally appointed 'auditors' as a metaphorical chainsaw against uncooperative government staff. But his promise to find $US2 trillion in savings in the first year swiftly evaporated to just $200 million. This failure to deliver upset Trump. Now, after Musk quit his White House role last month, DOGE is in Trump's hands. 'We might have to put DOGE on Elon,' the President told reporters before boarding Marine One on the White House lawn Wednesday. 'DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible?' It's not the first time the convicted fraudster has made the threat. He vowed to 'terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts' early in June. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' he added on Truth Social. Now, Trump has reminded Musk that he also has his fingers on the reins of ICE – the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. But Trump's failure to cut the ballooning US budget deficit has also unsettled some old-school Republicans. They, too, have attracted the President's ire. 'For all cost-cutting Republicans, of which I am one, REMEMBER, you still have to get re-elected,' he threatened Tuesday. Republican Senator Thom Tillis responded by announcing he would not seek re-election. He warned in his retirement notice that it was 'increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.' Abandoning the prospect of re-election will give him 18 months of 'pure freedom to call the balls and strikes as I see fit', he said. Trump has reportedly responded by nominating his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as a contender to fill Tillis' vacated senate seat. A return to empathy? Elon Musk has had a change of heart. Or, at least, he says so. He's called criticism of his chainsaw act at the Republican congress earlier this year a 'valid point'. 'Milei gave me the chainsaw backstage and I ran with it, but, in retrospect, it lacked empathy,' he posted on X on Monday. He was referring to Argentina's right-wing populist President Javier Milei. His gift of a glittering chainsaw sparked Musk's incomprehensible onstage diatribe and display. But it's a confession that appears to clash with the billionaire's self-proclaimed personal philosophy. Recently, Musk blamed the world's ills on the human compulsion to share and understand the feelings of another. 'Like, there's so much empathy that you actually suicide yourself,' Musk insisted during an interview with Joe Rogan in February. 'The fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy. The empathy exploit … 'So, I think, you know, empathy is good, but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot.' His critics pointed out that empathy is what sociopaths lack. It's also what they exploit. Others are now pointing to the utter failure of alternate parties to make a dent in US elections. Musk's chances of becoming the 48th President are nil. That's not just because he isn't a home-born US citizen. Nor his appallingly low popularity among US voters. The Libertarian Party is the third-largest political movement in America. Its best performance was in 2016, when it secured 3.26 per cent of the presidential vote. It's a consequence of the 'first past the post' voting system. It's 'winner takes all'. Margins and preferences aren't reflected in overall outcomes. But political scientist Bernard Tamas has told US media that minor parties can be a powerful irritation. 'They emerge very quickly, they run a bunch of candidates all over the country, and then they cause one or both major parties major pain,' Tamas says. 'They basically are pulling away votes.' Deflecting even two or three per cent away from a frontrunner can cause a seat to flip – but only between the Republican or Democrat frontrunners. Few such third parties survive. 'The most successful third parties in America last about a decade,' Tamas adds. 'Once they become too much of a threat, the major parties start stealing their rhetoric, their ideology'. And even if that ideology wins, the 47th President has proven it won't necessarily be put into effect.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
BTN Newsbreak 04/07/2025
CHEESE NIGHTMARES A new study has found that there might be some truth to the old tale that eating cheese before bed can give you nightmares. Yeah, turns out cheese and nightmares might be connected. See, a new study of about a thousand people in Canada found that for some people, eating dairy like cheese before bed worsened their sleep and made them have strange dreams or nightmares, especially if they were lactose intolerant! So, why? Well, at night our bodies are designed to put all our energy into sleeping, not digesting food, and experts say if we eat heavy stuff like desserts, sweets, and yes, cheese, before bed, it can make it harder to sleep. So, the big question is, can I still have Brie before bed? Well, experts say steering clear of heavy food two hours before bed is usually a good idea, and if you're craving a late-night snack, keep it light. BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL It looks like U.S President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is going ahead. The bill only just passed last night, with a tight 218 to 214 vote in the U.S House of Representatives. The bill aims to deliver tax cuts, which Republicans say will improve economic growth, and also fund the President's immigration crackdown. Some aren't happy with the bill and say it'll add trillions of dollars to the country's debt and cut important healthcare programs. But the President is optimistic and will sign the bill into law on the 4th of July. SUNSCREEN TESTING Now, you might remember a few weeks ago we told you about a sunscreen rating controversy, after consumer advocacy group CHOICE released this report, which found many Aussie sunscreens weren't living up to their advertised SPF rating. Since then, the brands behind the sunscreens have come out with their original test results showing their compliance. But an ABC investigation found that at least eight of those tests were done by the same overseas lab, Princeton Consumer Research, leading some industry experts to raise questions about the lab's accuracy and testing methods. The lab says that their testing process isn't a problem, while Australian regulators continue to investigate the findings. WHAT MAKES YOU COOL? Now, here's something pretty cool: scientists have been trying to figure out what makes cool people cool. Yeah, "cool" is an expression we use all the time. Even in other languages, they use the same word, "c'est cool". But are we all talking about the same thing? It's been hard to know until now. These researchers got almost 6000 participants across 13 countries, including Australia, to think about someone they personally know, who they think is cool, and to rate that person on 15 different personality traits. It turns out, all around the world, cool people are thought of as those who break rules, seek new experiences, and challenge authority. Then they wanted to test whether "cool" really just means the same as "good", but when participants were asked to think of a good person, the results were pretty different. Good people were described as being calm, following social expectations, and caring for other people. But the researchers also point out that staying authentic is an important part of being cool. HOT DOG WEIGH-IN First up, to the U.S, where competitors are gearing up for the big event, and this year is set to be a banger, no pun intended, as hot-dog-eating world record holder Joey Chestnut returns to the game! HUMBOLDT PENGUIN COMPETITION Now, to Chester Zoo in the UK, where this batch of 10 baby Humboldt penguins have just been named. Among the celestially inspired names are Ursa, Quasar, Orion, and Xena. But 2 babies don't yet have names, so the zoo has asked for suggestions from the public to help name them. HIGH HEEL RACE And finally to Spain where the 26th annual high heel race saw runners hurtling down this cobblestone street in Madrid, in various states of comfort. Is that duct tape? This year's winner took home 350 euro, or about 600 bucks in prize money.
ABC News
a day ago
- ABC News
An expert has quit over the government's planned social media ban, what now?
One of the experts advising the teen social media ban's tech trial has resigned over concerns about its planned 'age assurance' technology. Between uploading government ID documents to US tech companies and using AI to scan and identify people's ages, it's still unclear how this ban is going to be enforced. Is there a better solution we're missing here? Also, how can we ban social media if we can't decide what it actually is? YouTube has been classified and de-classified as social media throughout the process of developing the bill, and the definition may be more important than we realise when it comes to drawing a technological line in the sand for this ban. Plus, remember the metaverse? The non-Zuckerberg version of the Metaverse is back in the news this week with a new Standard out that could drastically impact teenagers safety online. GUESTS: Emily van der Nagel , lecturer in social media at Monash University , lecturer in social media at Monash University Jocelyn Brewer, founder of Digital Nutrition and psychologist This episode of Download This Show was made on Gadigal land and in Naarm. Technical production by Ann-Marie de Bettencour and Ross Richardson.
