Australian eSafety Commissioner vs Elon Musk - Forced removal of post on X that was “harmful” to a TRA

[StealthSpinach]

“Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk is taking legal action against the Australian government after eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant forced his tech platform X to remove a post allegedly harmful to a transgender activist.”

“The furore kicked off in late February when Canadian man Chris Elston slammed the proposed appointment of Australian trans activist Teddy Cook 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 transpeople, while also misgendering Mr Cook and making other remarks labelled by the eSafety Commissioner as “degrading”.”

“The post was widely viewed and shared in Australia until Ms Inman Grant issued a take-down notice to X on March 22.”

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/elon-musk-sues-esafety-commissioner-after-transgender-takedown-order/news-story/d5525155602b0ddf9d524aff35df7ff6

Except it is neither harassment nor bullying.

I hope this case is widely reported on and the reports become well known in Australia. I am very glad if Elon Musk is defending it.

I think, in the circumstances, very few would disagree with its content, given the proposal that such an obviously perverted individual (if anyone reports this post, Mumsnet, please remember that this involved promoting animal sexual abuse) should offer healthcare advice to WHO.

I hadn't seen the DM article when I posted. I was referring to the statement by Inman Grant in the article about the supposed harm of implying that transness is a mental health issue, plus Billboard Chris's tweet.

Who is the 'he' in your statement?

He Billboard Chris
or
He the woman who is advising the World Health Organisation?

What @ArabellaScott said.

The eSafety Commissioner has been very busy defending trans rights again…

https://reduxx.info/exclusive-women-drop-out-of-australian-football-division-after-five-trans-identified-males-dominate-womens-league-leave-female-players-injured/

Oh great, inclusion is wonderful, isn't it? Including men leads to women self-excluding. Just what we all want, to get girls into sport.

The decision has been handed down.

https://adfinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AU-tribunal-decisionChris-Elston-case.pdf

Some interesting bits to note.

"Material which a person comes across and finds seriously distressing cannot be the subject of a removal notice just because it is distressing or even seriously distressing."

and

"Second, Mr Elston did not know of Mr Cook prior to publication of the Daily Mail article and prior to the publication of his post. This rules out any personal motivator for trying to harm Mr Cook and significantly reduces the likelihood that the post is intended to harm Mr Cook in particular rather than make the broader political point that Mr Elston has identified. Mr Elston provides an explanation as to why he made the post that is consistent with him doing so for reasons that do not include causing Mr Cook harm. He misgendered Mr Cook because it is his universal practice to refer to people who identify as trans by pronouns and descriptors that correspond to their biological sex at birth. He does this to reflect his belief that doing otherwise involves an untrue statement and because doing otherwise has implications for the rights and safety of women and children."

and

"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. 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 that it is likely that the post was intended to have an effect of causing serious harm to Mr Cook."

NOTE: I looked to find this judgement linked on the appropriate official site, but it doesn't seem to have been uploaded. So, this is what I have for the moment.

Moira Deeming got a good judge, Billboard Chris got a good judge, that bloke fighting the transient of his kid. Why, on God’s green earth, did Salk Grover get Bromwich?

Thanks @StealthSpinach and @Helleofabore . A good result.

I did notice that JIG made no mention of upholding truth and science at the National Press Club last week.

We just don't know...