Elon Musk’s rebranded social media platform, X, has been slapped with a significant fine of A$610,500, approximately USD 386,000, by the Australian e-Safety Commission. This punishment was charged due to X’s failure to cooperate with an inquiry into its rules regarding child abuse deterrence, marking a bitter setback for the platform that has already been grappling with plunging revenue and facing severe criticism over its content moderation policies.
The Australian e-Safety Commission’s fine targeted X, previously known as Twitter, before Musk’s takeover. The platform came under scrutiny for its refusal to respond to inquiries regarding how it manages reports of child abuse material and the methods it employs to identify such content. This lack of cooperation during the investigation has raised concerns about X’s commitment to addressing illegal content on its platform.
Although the fine might seem relatively modest compared to the $44 billion Musk invested in the platform in October 2022, it has significant implications for X’s reputation. Advertisers have been reducing their investments in the platform due to its notable reduction in content moderation and the reinstatement of numerous previously banned accounts.
Adding to X’s woes, the European Union initiated an investigation into the platform for potential violations of tech regulations, particularly concerning disinformation related to the Hamas attack on Israel.
The Australian e-Safety Commission holds the authority to compel internet companies to provide information about their online safety practices. Failing to comply with such requests can result in financial penalties. The regulator may pursue legal action if X does not pay the fine.
Despite Musk’s statement that “removing child exploitation is priority #1” after taking the company private, the regulator identified inconsistencies in X’s responses. The platform claimed it was “not a service used by large numbers of young people” when asked about its efforts to prevent child grooming. X also argued that the available anti-grooming technology was insufficiently capable or accurate for deployment on the platform.
In a parallel development, the e-Safety Commission warned Alphabet’s Google for its noncompliance with the request for information about handling child abuse content. Some of Google’s responses were deemed “generic” by the regulator. Google expressed disappointment with the warning but reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating on online safety.
However, X’s noncompliance with the regulator’s requests was considered more serious, as it failed to answer questions concerning response times to child abuse reports, efforts to detect abuse in live streams, and staffing levels for content moderation, safety, and public policy.
X confirmed that it had significantly reduced its global workforce by 80% and had no public policy staff in Australia following Musk’s takeover. The platform also noted that it did not use tools to detect child abuse material in private messages, citing the technology as developmental.
