Australia PM hits back at Musk after 'fascists' quip

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hit back at Elon Musk on Saturday after the tech mogul called his government "fascists" for proposing laws that would fine social media giants for spreading misinformation.

Australia introduced a "combating misinformation" bill earlier this week, which includes sweeping powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of their annual turnover for breaching online safety obligations.

"Fascists," Musk posted Thursday on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

But Albanese fired back at Musk on Saturday, saying social media "has a social responsibility".

"If Mr Musk doesn't understand that, that says more about him than it does about my government," he told reporters Saturday.

The exchange between Musk and Australian officials is the latest in a long-running spat with the Australian government over social media regulation.

Australia's government is exploring a raft of new measures that would see social media companies take greater accountability for the content on their platforms -- including a ban for those under 16 years old.

The country's online watchdog took Musk's company to court earlier this year, alleging it had failed to remove "extremely violent" videos that showed a Sydney preacher being stabbed.

But it abruptly dropped its attempt to force a global takedown order on X after Musk scored a legal victory in a preliminary hearing, a move he celebrated as a free speech triumph.

Musk, a self-described "free speech absolutist", has clashed with politicians and digital rights groups worldwide, including in the European Union, which could decide within months to take action against X with possible fines.

In Brazil, where X has effectively been suspended after it ignored a series of court directives, Musk has responded by blasting the judge as an "evil dictator cosplaying as a judge".