The eSafety Commission fined X, the platform that billionaire Musk rebranded from Twitter, saying it failed to answer questions including how long it took to respond to reports of child abuse material on the platform and the methods the platform used to detect it.
Photo: Reuters
While small compared to the $44 billion Musk paid to acquire X in October 2022, the fine will continue to tarnish the reputation of the social media platform, which has been hit hard by declining advertising revenue.
The EU also recently said it was investigating X for possible violations of new technology rules after the platform was accused of failing to control disinformation related to Hamas attacks on Israel.
“If you have the answers to the questions, if you actually put the people, processes and technology in place to tackle illegal content at scale and globally, and if that’s your stated priority, then it’s pretty easy to say,” said Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
Under Australian laws that come into effect in 2021, regulators can force internet companies to provide information about their online safety measures or face fines. If X refuses to pay the fine, the regulator can take the company to court. X closed its Australian office after the Musk acquisition.
Inman Grant said the commission had also issued a warning to Google for failing to comply with a request for information about its handling of child abuse material, calling the search engine giant's responses to some questions "generic".
“We remain committed to these efforts and to working constructively and in good faith with the eSafety Commissioner, government and industry on the shared goal of keeping Australians safer online,” said Lucinda Longcroft, Google’s director of government affairs and public policy in Australia.
Hoang Hai (according to Reuters)
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