Elon Musk’s X fined $418,000 after failing to escape anti-child abuse probe by citing merger

An Australian court has awarded a fine of $418,000 Tesla And SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s social media platform Xearlier Tweetfor failing to comply with a supervisory authority’s request for information about child abuse practices.

What happened: The Federal Court of Australia upheld the fine against X, who had contested the sentence, Reuters reported on Friday.

The court ruled that X was obliged to respond to a notice from the court eSafety Commissioneran internet safety regulator, seeking details of measures to combat material on the child sexual exploitation platform.

X had argued that it was not mandatory to respond to the notification at the beginning of 2023, since it was included in a new company entity -controlled business entity, which eliminated liability.

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Following the verdict, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Scholarship said: “Had X Corp’s argument been accepted by the Court, it could have set the precedent that the merger of one foreign company with another foreign company could allow it to avoid legal obligations in Australia.”

The eSafety Commissioner has also initiated civil proceedings against X for his non-compliance, the report said.

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Why it matters: This development is part of a larger story about the Australian government’s increasing surveillance of social media platforms.

In April 2024, Musk responded to the Australian Prime Minister by Anthony Albanese criticism of the removal of a violent video of X.

The following month, he criticized the Australian government’s call for a “social license” for social media platforms.

Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister has targeted Albanese Mark Zuckerberg-led Metaplatforms Inc. also for his behavior and urged the social media giant to continue paying local media organizations for their content.

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