An Australian Cabinet minister rejected X Corp owner Elon Musk’s claim that the government intended to control access to the Internet after they introduced legislation to ban young children from social media.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Musk’s post was “unsurprising”.

“The idea that Elon Musk is not delighted with our steps to try and protect kids online is not an especially big surprise to us, nor does it trouble us greatly,” Chalmers told reporters.

The spat continues months of open hostility between the Australian government and the tech billionaire over regulators’ efforts to reduce public harm from social media.

New legislation discussed by the Australian parliament

It comes after the Australian government introduced legislation on Thursday that would force X and other social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook to stop children under 16 from using their platforms.

The bill will be debated by lawmakers in Parliament on Monday.

Musk responded to the legislation’s introduction by posting on his platform, “Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians”.

Asked if that was the government’s intention, Chalmers replied, “Of course not”.

“Elon Musk having that view about protecting kids online is entirely unsurprising to us. He’s expressed similar views before,” Chalmers said.

“Our job is not to come up with a social media policy to please Elon Musk. Our job is to put in place the necessary protection for kids online,” Chalmers added.