Article By Frank Bergman
Elon Musk’s X is sounding the alarm over a sweeping new Australian censorship proposal that could allow government regulators to demand documents and personal information from people outside the country, including Americans.
American social media platform Gab.com was also threatened by the Australian arm of their online censorship office.
In a formal submission to the Australian Senate, X warned that the legislation would dramatically expand the power of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and reach far beyond the nation’s borders.
Under the proposal, a person would not need to live in Australia or operate an Australian company to be targeted.
They would only need to be considered “affiliated” with an online platform.
X Warns Australia Is Claiming Power Over People Worldwide
X submitted its objections to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee as lawmakers consider the Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026.
The legislation passed Australia’s House of Representatives on July 1 and was referred to the Senate committee the same day.
The committee is expected to issue its report on August 25.
X warned that the amendments would “compel any person outside Australia…to provide information and documents merely because they are ‘affiliated’ with a company.”
The company said such an expansion of power would be “in clear conflict” with established international legal principles.
X also warned that the measure “raises potential for a severe impact on international comity.”
In practical terms, the Australian government is seeking the authority to demand records from people and companies around the world, even when their only connection to the country is an association with a social media platform.
Government Could Access Face Scans and Identity Documents
The legislation would also give Australia’s eSafety Commissioner the power to demand records from digital identity companies used to verify the ages of social media users.
Those companies can hold some of the most sensitive personal information imaginable, including facial scans, photographs of identification documents, and data used to estimate or infer a person’s age.
Australia forced platforms to begin collecting this information after banning children under 16 from using social media.
The same government that mandated the collection of those records is now demanding a direct legal route to access them.
App store operators could also be forced to turn over information under the proposal.
X warned that lawmakers had failed to give “due regard to procedural fairness, privacy, the broader impacts on online services, and Australia’s digital economy.”
Platforms Face Massive New Fines
Companies that fail to take “reasonable” steps to keep users under 16 off their platforms currently face penalties of up to A$49.5 million.
The new bill would double the maximum punishment to A$99 million (US$69 million) for systematic breaches.
The threat of enormous financial penalties would give the regulator extraordinary leverage over platforms, identity-verification providers, and potentially individuals located outside Australia.
Australia’s eSafety agency told lawmakers that its existing authority is insufficient because regulators must often rely on “representations from providers about their own compliance.”
The agency said its inability to compel records from third-party age-verification companies creates “significant” barriers to investigations.
It is preparing possible enforcement action against five platforms and says its current powers are slowing that effort.
U.S. Congress Has Already Raised Free Speech Alarm
The censorship push has already attracted scrutiny in Washington.
A U.S. congressional committee asked Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant to testify over concerns that her actions threaten American free speech.
Musk previously described Australia’s social media restrictions as a “backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians.”
The new legislation suggests the government’s ambitions extend even further.
It would allow an Australian regulator to reach across national borders, demand documents from people abroad, and access sensitive identity records collected under a government-imposed age-verification regime.
Industry Group Says Regulator Already Has Unused Powers
DIGI, an industry organization representing several online platforms, told the inquiry that the eSafety Commissioner already possesses enforcement powers that have not yet been fully used.
The group’s message was clear: Australia’s regulator should use the authority it already has before demanding sweeping new powers over platforms, vendors, and people outside the country.
X’s warning exposes the danger at the center of the bill.
A law sold as a way to keep children off social media could give a foreign government access to private data and documents belonging to adults around the world.
Australia calls it online safety.
X is warning that it looks far more like global censorship.
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