Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Sign up to our newsletter Join our membership and be updated daily!

Australian court orders Elon Musk’s X to pay $418,000 fine over failure to cooperate on child safety inquiry

Australian court orders Elon Musk's X
X logo on a phone and computer.

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.

YOU MAY ALSO READ: Gilead donates 5,000 Vials of Remdesivir to Rwanda to combat Marburg Virus outbreak

Share with friends