Australian plan for misinformation law riles Elon Musk

The Australian government wants to fine social media platforms up to 5% of their global revenue if they fail to stop the spread of misinformation under a revised legislative plan introduced Thursday, Reuters reports. 

The planned law, which looks similar to the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), drew swift condemnation from X owner Elon Musk, who dubbed Australia’s lawmakers “fascists” in a response posted on X. 

Since December, the EU has been investigating X’s role in spreading disinformation. Its law allows for fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue for confirmed breaches.

Should similar laws spread elsewhere, Musk’s playbook for X could get costly. His tenure at the platform formerly known as Twitter has seen the self-professed “free speech absolutist” welcome divisive, hate-filled content while making it harder for users to verify quality info — the opposite of what laws like the DSA intend.