Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been hit with a fine of approximately US$386,000 by an Australian regulatory authority. The penalty was imposed due to the platform’s failure to cooperate in an investigation into its practices related to child abuse content.
The e-Safety Commission, the regulatory body responsible for online safety in Australia, stated that X did not adequately respond to inquiries about its methods for detecting child abuse material and the time it takes to respond to such reports. This lack of cooperation is seen as a setback for X, which has been struggling with advertiser retention due to complaints about its lax approach to content moderation.
Despite the fine being relatively small compared to the US$44 billion Musk paid for the website in October 2022, it represents a reputational blow for X. The platform has seen a continuous decline in revenue as advertisers have reduced their spending due to concerns about its content moderation practices.
Recently, the European Union announced that it was investigating X for potential violations of its new tech rules. This came after accusations that the platform failed to control disinformation related to an attack by Hamas on Israel.
The e-Safety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, expressed concern over X’s inability to provide satisfactory answers to questions about illegal content and conduct on the platform. She suggested that this could indicate a lack of effective measures in place to tackle such issues.
Following Musk’s acquisition of the platform, X closed its office in Australia. As a result, there was no local representative available to respond to these concerns. Despite these challenges, Musk has publicly stated that removing child exploitation is a top priority for the company.
