The US Congress is threatening Australia's eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, with contempt charges if she doesn't testify within two weeks about online safety laws. This comes after the Albanese government's groundbreaking under-16 social media ban, which has been accused of harassing American companies. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote to Inman Grant, a dual national with US citizenship, accusing her of attempting to create a global censorship regime. Jordan claims that Australia's Online Safety Act threatens American free speech and calls for her testimony before his committee, including her past attempts to force social media platforms to remove graphic content. This follows the Trump administration's ban on five former European officials and online safety activists from entering the US, with the possibility of expanding the list to others deemed to oppose free speech. Jordan's letter emphasizes that Congress has the power to compel US citizens living abroad to testify and be found in contempt of court for non-compliance, which can result in fines or jail time. He also highlights Inman Grant's willingness to travel to the US, citing her appearance at a Stanford University event in September. Jordan's concerns extend to the potential use of VPNs to bypass geo-blocking and access restricted content, and he suspects Inman Grant of using this as a pretext for global content takedowns. The committee has obtained correspondence between eSafety and social media companies, revealing eSafety's harassment of American companies ahead of the social media age ban's implementation. The Australian government has remained silent on this attack on one of its officials by the US, and the eSafety Commission has declined to comment.
