An Australian court has upheld a $418,000 fine against Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, for not complying with a regulator’s request for information on anti-child-abuse practices.
What Happened: The Federal Court of Australia confirmed the fine against X, which had contested the penalty, reported Reuters on Friday.
The court ruled that X was obligated to respond to a notice from the eSafety Commissioner, an internet safety regulator, seeking details about measures to combat child sexual exploitation material on the platform.
X had argued that it was not obligated to respond to the notice in early 2023 as it had been incorporated into a new Musk-controlled corporate entity, thereby eliminating liability.
Following the verdict, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said, “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.”
The eSafety Commissioner has also initiated civil proceedings against X due to its noncompliance, the report noted.
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Why It Matters: This development is part of a larger narrative involving the Australian government’s increasing scrutiny of social media platforms.
In April 2024, Musk responded to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s criticism over removing a violent video from X.
The following month, he criticized the Australian government’s call for a “social license” for social media platforms.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Albanese has targeted Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms Inc. too for its behavior and urged the social media giant to continue paying local media organizations for their content.
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