Australian eSafety commissioner told to face US Congress over ‘foreign censorship regime’
A US politician has again called for Australia’s eSafety commissioner to appear before a congressional committee next month over efforts to censor social media posts.
American-born Julie Inman Grant was sent a letter signed by Republican congressman Jim Jordan earlier this week requesting that she testify before Congress by December 2.
Mr Jordan, chairman of the House judiciary committee, described Australia’s Online Safety Act as a “foreign censorship regime” in his letter.
“As the primary enforcer of the OSA in Australia and a well-known zealot on removals globally, you are uniquely positioned to provide information on the law’s implications for free expression,” the letter said.
“Your broad comment [the OSA] … It directly threatens American speech,” he said.
It appears the congressman has not yet responded to his request.
Her letter referred to Ms Inman Grant’s court bid last year to have social media platform
X owner Elon Musk called the injunction “global censorship” as his company argued in court that “geo-blocking” URLs from Australian users was sufficient.
Mr Jones said the US committee wanted to “talk” to the eSafety boss as he sought to impose Australia’s rules on the US in a bid to “globally remove” some “bad content”.
“We considered inviting him back to speak to our committee, especially given the situation where he wanted some bad content to be removed globally, I understand, but he wanted to impose Australia’s rules on the US,” he told Sky News.
“We have a First Amendment that we take very seriously. That’s why we oppose this type of global takedown order from a foreign country.”
Mr. Jordan is reportedly a close ally of President Donald Trump.
