An Australian court upheld a fine against Elon Musk’s X Corp after the company admitted failing to comply with child protection requirements, bringing an end to a three-year legal battle over online safety enforcement.
The penalty was first issued by Australia’s online safety regulator in 2023 after the platform failed to adequately respond to a formal request for information on measures it was taking to combat the exploitation of children online.
The company initially challenged the order, arguing it was not obliged to comply because the request had been issued before Twitter formally transitioned into X Corp following its restructuring under Elon Musk’s ownership.
However, on Thursday, X admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay a fine of A$650,000, equivalent to about $463,000, after the court finalised the settlement.
Justice Michael Wheelahan said a strong penalty was necessary to ensure compliance and deterrence, stating, “A penalty near the maximum is appropriate in the case of the respondent, which is a substantial corporation so that it operates as a real deterrent and is not simply a cost of doing business.”
The court also ordered X Corp to pay A$100,000 toward legal costs incurred by the regulator.
The ruling followed repeated clashes between X and Australia’s eSafety Commissioner over content moderation policies, including disputes over the country’s world-first under-16 social media restrictions and the handling of violent content circulated on the platform.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said, “Meaningful transparency is critical to holding technology companies to account,” in response to the ruling.
The regulator had originally issued the transparency notice to Twitter in February 2023, shortly before the platform’s transition into X Corp under Musk’s ownership.
The case was further complicated by earlier legal arguments over corporate responsibility following the restructuring, but a court ruling last year confirmed X was still required to comply with the transparency request.
