The recent edict delivered to Elon Musk by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, to censor hate speech on Twitter or face the hefty fine of $700,000 per day, led my curious mind back to another time when people were subjected to rather nasty pieces of legislation. The concern is not about Musk or his virtual town hall empire per se; this will impact heaviest on the people’s ability to speak their mind without persecution.
Musk can look after himself. We may not be so lucky.
Let’s venture away from Rome and go further back to a time when you could not imagine anyone daring to break a law out of fear for their lives. Let’s go to Mesopotamia and specifically to the Law Codes of Hammurabi, but first, a little background.
Known as the “Cradle of Civilisation” and the “Land between the Rivers,” we see that from 6000 BC evidence of small-scale irrigation exists, becoming more advanced around 5000 BC. The historical period from around 4000 BC reveals development of cities. The Sumerians were the dominant people at the time, with Sumer reaching one hundred thousand inhabitants by 3000 BC – an extraordinary number for ancient times.
The following millennium required a more advanced level of organisation to accommodate the growing numbers of people coming from far and wide. By 3000 BC, kings had absolute authority throughout the various regions, but in time rebellion and warfare engulfed whatever order had been established. By the time Hammurabi took the throne, the Babylonian empire dominated Mesopotamia. He unified the region through centralising government, and, of course, taxation was key to maintaining empire. But Hammurabi’s enduring infamy was established through what is considered the most extant codified system of law remaining from the ancient world.
So, what does this have to do with Musk, Twitter, Inman Grant, and Australian citizens?
Simply put, that millenniums don’t change the nature of human lust for control.
On 22 June 2023, a press release was issued, formally putting Musk on notice:
‘If Twitter fails to respond to the most recent notice within 28 days, the company could face maximum financial penalties of nearly $700,000 a day for continuing breaches.’
The Guardian news outlet provides a bit more pointed language, reporting that:
‘Australia’s eSafety commissioner says Twitter has “dropped the ball” on tackling online hate, labelling the site “a bin fire” as she issued a legal notice to the social media giant demanding an explanation about what it is doing about the scourge.’
A scourge, they say. Strong words to be used against a peaceful democratic nation of people, whose only recourse for changing politicians from abysmal to bad is through voting every few years.
I went to my trusty Roget’s International Thesaurus which revealed substitute words for “scourge” are “punishment,” “bane,” “whip,” and “epidemic.”
The Law Codes of Hammurabi were created during his reign of 1792 – 1750 BC, most of which are brutal in the extreme. Of the 282 statutes or laws, there is one standout that had me drawing a comparison to Australia’s new Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2023.
Code 109:
‘If criminals have conspired in an innkeeper’s establishment and she has not arrested and conducted those criminals to the palace, that innkeeper will be executed.’
https://www.ehammurabi.com/
Naturally, the brutal and violent punishments don’t play into our story, however, relativity is the name of the game. For our story now, Musk is the Innkeeper, we the People are the criminals.
How is this punishment, this “scourge,” which is being dished out to majority law-abiding citizens any different in sentiment to what was promulgated 4000 years ago? And that is the core point here – the “sentiment” representing the tenet of democracy, our right to be able to speak freely as human beings.
It’s worth bearing in mind, also, that the code rested on the principle of les talionis – “law of retaliation.” But it was far from equal justice. As an example, if a noble broke the bone of another noble, that noble would suffer likewise. But if a noble broke the bone of a commoner, the penalty was merely a fine paid in silver.
A bit like our politicians being exempted from having the covid vaccine while they were coercing their citizens to do so or pay the consequences of losing their jobs and ultimately their homes.
Equal justice is an illusion. And if this Bill goes through, which I expect it will, democracy will only be referred to in name only. In reality, it will be the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing.
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