A Canadian free speech activist is taking legal action against the Australian government after one of his tweets was blocked from being viewed in the country under orders from Australia’s “eSafety” commission.
Chris Elston, better known as “Billboard Chris” for his sandwich-board-style activism in public spaces, is challenging Australia’s censorship order before the Administrative Review Tribunal. The controversy began after Elston shared a Daily Mail UK article titled “Kinky secrets of UN trans expert revealed,” which focused on Teddy Cook, a transgender activist from Australia appointed to a World Health Organization advisory board.
Cook filed a complaint with the eSafety commissioner, prompting the agency to demand that X restrict the tweet in Australia. X initially resisted the order but complied after receiving a formal government directive. The legal battle is now being supported by Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADFI).
Lois McLatchie Miller of ADFI traveled to Australia ahead of the hearing and posted about the case on X, stating: “I’m in Australia because their government think their people don’t deserve to know and to make their own mind up about toxic gender ideology.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital, McLatchie Miller described the case as “monumental” for global speech rights. She emphasized the international dimension of the case: “It’s an Australian authority bucking the speech of a Canadian man on an American platform.” She went on to state: “So the Australian authorities have found that because they don’t want Australians to be able to hear a message and discuss a certain topic, they have now reached over to other countries to block that free speech, which is in and of itself fascinating.”
She connected the incident to broader concerns about cross-border censorship: “Over the last few weeks, when it comes to foreign governments having very surreal policies which are thought to only impact their citizens and their citizens’ human rights, but also the rights for Americans, rights for Canadians, others around the world.”
Meanwhile, platform X is also disputing a substantial financial penalty issued by the Australian government in 2023, after authorities claimed the company failed to provide details on how it addresses exploitation and abuse on the platform.
