Australia’s prime minister has called tycoon Elon Musk an “arrogant billionaire” in an escalating row between them.

The feud between them has started since the refusal of the X platform, owned by Musk, to remove a video of a bloody incident of a stabbing in a church.

On Monday, an Australian court ordered X to take down the video of an attack that took place last week in Sydney.

The platform said it would comply pending the appeal.

Musk then uploaded a meme hinting at government censorship, and Prime Minister Albanese told ABC News that Mr. Musk “thinks he’s above the law but also above common decency.”

Last week, Australian church officials threatened X and other social media companies with heavy fines if they did not take down videos of the incident inside a church, which police described as a terrorist attack.

X responded that the request was “not within the scope of Australian law” and the church authority then sought an injunction.

In a press conference, Albanese criticized Platform X for “choosing not to comply.”

In a series of online posts, Mr Musk wrote: “I’d like to take a minute to thank the prime minister for letting the public know that this platform is the only real one.”

He also characterized the ecclesiastical authority as a “commissioner of censorship”.

“Social media must have social responsibility. Mr. Musk has none,” he said.

Monday’s injunctions will remain in place until Wednesday, when a second hearing will be held.