A far-right Austrian who received donations from and was in contact with the Christchurch terrorists before the 2019 attack restored the X account, and X owner Elon Musk responded to one of his tweets.
Martin Sellner, founder of the so-called Identity movement, which preached the superiority of European ethnic groups, Banned from Twitter in 2020 under previous management Along with dozens of other accounts associated with the movement, amid criticism of the platform’s handling of extremist content.
Mr Sellner was sought by Austrian authorities in 2019 on suspicion of collaborating with Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant and members of a terrorist organization. Mr Sellner has denied his involvement in the attack.
Tarrant donated 1,500 euros (A$2,487) to Sellner’s identitarian organization, and in 2018 Sellner invited Tarrant to “go have a beer or coffee with him if he ever came to Austria.” It was revealed that they had exchanged e-mails.
Tarrant visited Austria in 2018, but Sellner denies the two ever met.
Sellner praised Musk for restoring his X account last week, and the paid account now has a blue checkmark and 51,000 followers.
“I’m happy and grateful to be back on Twitter/X. I want to especially thank Mr. Musk for opening up this platform again,” he said, according to an English translation of the tweet. “We hope this trend continues and everyone else who was banned comes back.”
After Sellner posted a video about how Swiss police shut down an event he was speaking at in canton Aargau and banned him from leaving canton Aargau for two months, Musk responded, “This is legal.” Is that so?” he replied.
Last month, it was reported that Germany was considering banning Sellner from entering the country.
Deakin University extremism expert Dr Josh Ruth said Mr Sellner’s account was the latest in a long line of far-right accounts, including leaders of Australia’s National Socialist Network, to be allowed back into X under the Musk government. said that it was an account.
“It just so happens that they all interacted with Brenton in some way, shape, or form,” he says.
“Since these groups have come back and been allowed back on the platform, they’re all following each other’s accounts and linking internationally. So there’s a movement to build links and build contacts. is now possible.”
We asked Mr. X for comment. This week, in a fiery interview with former CNN anchor Don Lemon, Musk defended his continued anti-Semitic and racist posts on the platform, saying they are not illegal. .
“So, Don, you love censorship?” Musk said.
Lemon said he believed in moderation, to which Musk replied, “Moderation is a propaganda word that means censorship.”
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If a post is illegal, “we’re going to take it down,” Musk said, adding that if it doesn’t violate the law, “we either deserve the censorship or we’re the censors.”
Roos said that while this may be consistent with his views on free speech in the United States, the account was originally deleted for the purpose of spreading hatred and inciting fear online, and nothing has changed. He said he had not.
“This is not surprising, but it is just a signal and an influence that could provide these movements with a platform to spread hate.”
In January, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant said that based on data provided by X from November 2022 to May 2023, X had been suspended for violating the then-current hateful conduct policy. It revealed that it had recovered 6,103 Australian accounts, including 194 accounts. .
“Many of these returning users had previously been banned for online hate,” Inman Grant said at the time. There are clear concerns about the impact on user safety if we leave the worst offenders alone again, while at the same time significantly reducing the number of people who ensure trust and safety. ”
X is one of six technology platforms this week to be issued legal notices by Australia’s online safety regulator asking what action they take against extremist and terrorist-related content on their platforms. was. Mr Grant said videos of the Christchurch massacre were still circulating online.
Platforms that fail to respond to the notification within 49 days may be subject to fines.
Ruth said governments were reluctant to take “real action” and there was speculation Australia could follow the US in banning TikTok, citing security concerns. , said there was no real threat of X being banned for failing to tackle extremism on its platform. , if it is mentioned in the eSafety notice.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to leadership and a willingness to take decisive action based on an understanding of fundamentals and citizenship. Because in real life we can’t escape, but we can escape online. .That’s what corrodes democracy…Democracy is meant to be founded on mutual respect and recognition.”
