Australian neo-Nazis are thriving on Elon Musk’s X, the federal opposition has warned, as the nation’s online safety watchdog raises the alarm on the “perfect storm” of extremism brewing under X’s free speech abolitionist policies. White supremacists and leaders of Australia’s National Socialist Network (NSN) were previously banned or censored on X before returning in the past year or so, spurring the case for a new duty of care the Albanese government is preparing to place on social platforms as part of an online safety review to be released in weeks. Sixteen members of the National Socialist Network were arrested in Adelaide when they marched on Australia Day. X has cut online global moderation, removed all staff in Australia and reinstated thousands of banned accounts, according to the eSafety Commissioner, ushering in a chaotic era for social media driven by a growing sense, particularly among those on the right, that content moderation stifled free expression. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has announced similar moves on fact-checking at the same time as Labor has ploughed on with its wide agenda of new clamps on social media including banning teens under 16 using certain sites.
via smh: Musk’s X fuelling Australia’s neo-Nazis, warns Coalition and online watchdog