Australian court upholds fine against Elon Musk’s X

An Australian federal court on Thursday upheld a financial penalty against Elon Musk’s social media platform X for failing to comply with child internet safety regulations, bringing to a close a three-year legal dispute between the company and the Australian government, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

Under Australian legislation, the country’s online safety regulator, eSafety, has the authority to fine technology companies that fail to provide detailed information about measures being taken to protect children online.

In February 2023, eSafety approached Twitter — before it was rebranded as X — requesting detailed explanations regarding the company’s efforts to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material on its platform.

The following month, Twitter was merged into Musk’s newly created X Corp. Australian authorities later determined that the company had submitted “incomplete” responses to repeated requests from the regulator, leading to legal action and financial penalties.

A federal court ruled in October 2024 that X was obligated to comply fully with the notice issued by eSafety. On Thursday, the court ordered the social media company to pay a fine of AU$650,000 (US$464,900).

“A penalty near the maximum is appropriate in the case of the respondent, which is a substantial corporation so that it operates as a real deterrent and is not simply a cost of doing business,” Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan said in the ruling.

Australia has emerged as one of the leading countries pushing stricter regulation of major technology firms. Last year, Canberra introduced world-first legislation banning children under the age of 16 from accessing social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok.

Several other countries are now reportedly considering similar measures. According to documents obtained by AFP, officials from Israel, the United Kingdom, Norway and New Zealand held discussions with Australian authorities after expressing interest in the social media restrictions.

“Meaningful transparency is critical to holding technology companies to account,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said following the court’s decision.

“This is not only a key part of our work as Australia’s online safety regulator, it also provides the Australian public with important information about how these companies are tackling the worst-of-the-worst content on their platforms,” she added.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev