An Australian court ruled that Elon Musk’s X must pay a fine of A$610,500 ($418,000) for not complying with a regulator’s request. The eSafety Commissioner asked X for details on its practices to tackle child abuse content.
X challenged the fine, but the Federal Court of Australia stated the company was required to respond. X, previously called Twitter, had argued that its 2023 merger into a new entity removed its liability. However, the court rejected this argument.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant emphasized the potential risks if the court had accepted X’s claim. It might have allowed foreign companies to avoid Australian regulations by merging.
In addition, eSafety has filed civil proceedings against X due to its noncompliance. X has yet to comment on the ruling.
Earlier this year, X also faced conflict with the same regulator. The eSafety Commissioner ordered X to take down posts showing an attack on a bishop during a sermon in Australia. X resisted, claiming that a single country’s regulator should not control global content. After the case was withdrawn, X kept the posts live.
Musk described the order as censorship and shared posts that portrayed the decision as part of a broader attempt by the World Economic Forum to impose global eSafety rules.
