Elon Musk's X ordered by Australian court to pay $418,000 fine in child abuse case

Elon Musk's social media platform X has been ordered by an Australian court to pay A$610,500 ($418,000 approximately) in fines in a child abuse case.

In Short

• X fined A$610,500 by Australian court
• Fine linked to child exploitation content oversight
• Musk criticises new Aussie misinformation legislation

Elon Musk’s social media platform X –– formerly Twitter –– has been ordered to pay a fine of A$610,500 (approximately $418,000) by an Australian court, according to a Reuters report. The fine, upheld by the Federal Court of Australia, stems from X’s failure to comply with a request from the country’s eSafety Commissioner for information on how the platform addresses child sexual exploitation material.

X had challenged the fine, arguing that due to a corporate restructuring in 2022 — when Twitter was taken private and merged into Musk's new entity, X Corp — it was no longer obligated to respond to regulatory demands made before the transition. However, the court dismissed this argument, noting that such a precedent could have worrying implications for regulatory oversight of foreign companies operating in Australia. Reportedly, the eSafety Commissioner said that accepting X's position could have opened a loophole for companies to avoid their legal responsibilities following mergers or acquisitions.

The fine is part of ongoing friction between Musk's platform and Australia’s eSafety Office, which monitors online content. X has faced additional scrutiny, with civil proceedings initiated against the platform due to non-compliance with various regulatory requests. The Australian authorities have emphasised the importance of holding companies accountable, particularly when it comes to safeguarding users from harmful content like child sexual exploitation.

This isn't the first time X has clashed with the Australian government. Earlier in 2023, the eSafety Commissioner ordered X to remove content depicting the stabbing of a bishop during a sermon in Australia. The platform resisted, leading to a legal challenge over the global implications of such orders, according to another report by Reuters. X argued that regulators from a single country should not have the power to dictate content visible worldwide. Although the Australian regulator eventually withdrew its case, Musk remained defiant, criticising the order as censorship and going so far as to label it a scheme led by the World Economic Forum to impose control over online content.

Adding fuel to the fire, Musk recently called the Australian government "fascists" after it introduced new legislation aimed at curbing misinformation. The proposed law, revealed three weeks ago, would give regulators the power to fine social media companies up to 5 per cent of their global revenue if they failed to tackle misinformation on their platforms. Under the proposal, tech companies would be required to establish and enforce codes of conduct to prevent the spread of harmful falsehoods. Should they fail to meet these standards, the Australian government’s regulator would have the authority to impose its own rules and levy fines for non-compliance.