A court in Australia upheld a fine of 610,500 Australian dollars imposed on Elon Musk’s X for failing to cooperate with a request for information about anti-child-abuse practices. The Federal Court of Australia ruled that X, formerly known as Twitter, was obligated to respond to a notice from the eSafety Commissioner seeking information on addressing child sexual exploitation material on the platform. X had argued that it was not required to respond to the notice as it had been merged into a new Musk-controlled entity, but the court disagreed.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant stated that accepting X Corp.’s argument would have set a concerning precedent that foreign companies could avoid regulatory obligations in Australia by merging with another foreign company. eSafety has also initiated civil proceedings against X for its noncompliance. This is not the first conflict between Musk and the Australian internet safety regulator, as earlier this year, X was ordered to remove posts showing a bishop in Australia being stabbed during a sermon.
X challenged this order in court, arguing against a regulator in one country making decisions about global content. Musk referred to the order as censorship and claimed it was orchestrated by the World Economic Forum to impose eSafety rules worldwide. Ultimately, X kept the posts up after the Australian regulator withdrew the case. X did not immediately comment on the upheld fine.
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