Australian Court Orders X Corp to Pay 650,000 AUD Fine

An Australian court has ordered Elon Musk's social media company, X Corp., to pay a significant fine after the company admitted to violating the country's online safety laws by failing to provide adequate information about its child protection measures. The ruling on Thursday ended a nearly three-year legal dispute with Australia's eSafety Commissioner.

Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan imposed a penalty of 650,000 Australian dollars and ordered X to pay an additional 100,000 Australian dollars toward the regulator's legal costs. The case centered on X's response to a "transparency notice" issued by the eSafety Commissioner in February 2023, which sought details on how the platform was tackling child sexual exploitation material. The company was legally required to respond by March 29 of that year.

In court, a lawyer for the eSafety Commissioner, Christopher Tran, stated that X admitted it contravened Australia's Online Safety Act. He noted there was ongoing noncompliance for approximately 38 days. The regulator had initially fined the company, then known as Twitter, 610,500 Australian dollars in October 2023 for what it deemed an inadequate response.