An Australian court upheld a ruling on Friday requiring Elon Musk’s company, X, to pay a fine of A$610,500 ($418,000) for failing to comply with a regulator’s request for information on its anti-child-abuse measures.
X had contested the fine, but the Federal Court of Australia determined it was required to respond to a notice from the eSafety Commissioner, which sought details on efforts to combat child sexual exploitation material on the platform.
Musk took X, formerly known as Twitter, private in 2022. However, the company argued it was not obligated to answer the notice issued in early 2023 because it had been incorporated into a new corporate entity under Musk’s control, which they claimed nullified its liability.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, commenting on the ruling, stated, “Had X Corp’s argument been accepted by the Court, it could have set the concerning precedent that a foreign company’s merger with another foreign company might enable it to avoid regulatory obligations in Australia.”
eSafety has also initiated civil proceedings against X due to its noncompliance. X did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
This isn’t the first clash between Musk and Australia’s internet safety regulator. Earlier this year, the eSafety Commissioner ordered X to take down posts showing a bishop in Australia being stabbed during a sermon.
X contested the order, arguing that a single country’s regulator should not determine what internet users globally are allowed to see.
The posts remained online after the Australian regulator eventually withdrew the case.
At the time, Musk called the order censorship and shared posts claiming it was part of a World Economic Forum conspiracy to enforce eSafety regulations globally.
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