A court in Australia has recently sanctioned a fine of USD610,500, or about AUD418,000 to Elon Musk's social media platform, X. The fine was levied for failure to comply with inquiries from regulators on the safety of children.
X would have done much better had it kept quiet about the efforts it was making to combat the sexual exploitation of children on the platform. The court holds that X is ordered to comply with the notice, ignoring a corporate restructuring by the company exempting it from obligations of such a nature.
eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant told the court it could set a dangerous precedent in accepting X's defense. She further emphasized that this would "allow foreign companies to avoid their regulatory responsibilities in Australia." The court’s decision makes it clear that social media platforms need to enforce stricter standards of child safety.
That is not the first tussle between Musk and the Australian regulator. A few months ago, eSafety had directed X to remove violent content depicting a stabbing incident. X disputed this because content should not be ruled globally by a regulator from one country, which added further legal complexities.
It seems that all the governments around the world are circling in on Tesla’s CEO for X’s malpractices. This may be coming from the global need for stricter regulations for social media platforms as the harmful effects of these platforms become more apparent. In similar news, X was banned by the Brazilian Supreme Court for spreading misinformation during the election. Elon Musk initially challenged the decision but seems to now have changed his stance by banning the controversial accounts.
This judgment now brings to light the continuing pressure on social media companies concerning their responsibilities in dealing with vulnerable users. For not complying, this judgment sets X to face further civil proceedings. The case remains to be seen of how it must influence future international platform operations.