A free speech advocate under fire in another country recently praised the Trump administration for its stance on free speech.
Canadian Chris Elston, famous online as “Billboard Chris,” has been fined and threatened with arrest in Australia not only for his messages on sandwich boards in public spaces but also for a post on X criticizing a transgender activist appointed to a World Health Organization (WHO) “panel of experts” on global transgender policy, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). When the Trump State Department expressed support for Elston, he praised the Trump administration for making the United States a “beacon of liberty” once again.
Elston posted on X May 3, “Excellent news! The U.S. State Department has come out in support of my fight for free speech against the Australian government. In a time of great censorship across the West, the U.S. under Trump is once again a beacon of liberty, applying pressure to governments around the world who want to silence the truth.”
His remarks followed a statement from the State Department criticizing the Australian government for its handling of Elston‘s case.
He added, “If our free speech can’t be protected when we speak out against the greatest child abuse scandal in the world right now, when can it be?” In a separate statement, published by Fox News, Elston declared, “It's phenomenal. The Trump administration has been tremendous on this issue.”
The whole saga with Australia started last year when Elston reposted a Daily Mail article about an Australian transgender member of the United Nationstrans health panel under the World Health Organization.
— Billboard Chris 🌎 (@BillboardChris) May 7, 2025
This included posting images of Teddy Cook practicing public nudity and… pic.twitter.com/SoxkGSNE0m
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor X message which inspired Elston’s gratitude read, “The Department of State is deeply concerned about efforts by governments to coerce American tech companies into targeting individuals for censorship. Freedom of expression must be protected – online and offline. Examples of this conduct are troublingly numerous. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened X for hosting political speech; Türkiye fined Meta for refusing to restrict content about protests; and Australia required X to remove a post criticizing an individual for promoting gender ideology.”
When Elston criticized transgender activist Teddy Cook, sharing a Daily Mail article, Cook reportedly whined to Australia’s eSafety commissioner, who called on X to remove the content. While X initially refused the take down request, “following a subsequent formal removal order from the Commissioner,” X complied by geo-blocking the content in Australia. X later filed an appeal. Elston, for his part, was subsequently fined by an Australian court. He was also went to court over his sandwich board message saying that children cannot consent to puberty blockers, according to Fox News.
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