Australia Fines X over Child Abuse Content Disclosure

An Australian federal court has fined X A$650,000 for failing to provide information to the country’s online safety regulator about how it handled child sexual exploitation content.

Federal Court Judge Michael Wheelahan also ordered the Texas-based social media company to pay an additional A$100,000 in legal costs linked to proceedings brought by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant within 45 days.

The ruling brings to an end a three-year legal dispute during which X argued it was not legally required to answer questions submitted by the Australian eSafety regulator.

The case centered on a transparency notice issued on February 22, 2023, requiring the company to explain its processes for addressing child sexual abuse material and online exploitation content.

Lawyers representing the eSafety Commissioner told the court that X admitted breaching Australia’s Online Safety Act by failing to submit a complete report by the March 29, 2023 deadline.

X’s legal team argued that the alleged breach did not continue beyond May 5, 2023, describing the period as a time of major corporate transition following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform.

The transparency notice was originally issued to Twitter before its merger into X in March 2023.

Both X and the Australian regulator reportedly agreed that the financial penalty imposed by the court was appropriate.

The case highlights increasing global pressure on major social media companies to strengthen transparency and enforcement measures surrounding harmful online content, particularly material linked to child exploitation and abuse.