15-10-2023 (SYDNEY) The e-Safety Commission in Australia has imposed a fine of A$610,500 ($386,000) on Elon Musk’s social media platform X for its failure to cooperate with an investigation into anti-child abuse practices. This penalty deals a blow to the company, which has been struggling to retain advertisers due to concerns about its lax content moderation policies.
The commission stated that X, previously known as Twitter before Musk’s rebranding, did not respond to inquiries regarding its response time to reports of child abuse material on the platform and the methods used to detect such content.
Although the fine is relatively small compared to the $44 billion Musk paid to acquire the website in October 2022, it poses a reputational setback for X. The platform has witnessed a decline in revenue as advertisers reduce spending due to concerns about inadequate content moderation. X has also faced criticism for reinstating thousands of banned accounts and has been under investigation by the European Union for potential violations of new tech rules related to disinformation surrounding Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Commissioner Julie Inman Grant expressed frustration over X’s lack of cooperation and urged the company to address the issue promptly. She emphasized the importance of tackling illegal content and ensuring the safety of users, stating that failing to respond to inquiries suggests a lack of answers or commitment to addressing the problem. Inman Grant was previously a public policy director for X until 2016.
Since Musk’s acquisition, X has closed its Australian office, leaving no local representative to respond to queries from Reuters. A request for comment sent to the company’s media email address in San Francisco remained unanswered.
Under Australian laws implemented in 2021, the regulator has the authority to compel internet companies to provide information about their online safety practices. Failure to comply can result in fines, and if X refuses to pay, the regulator may pursue legal action against the company, according to Grant.
Following X’s transition to a private company, Musk stated that “removing child exploitation is priority #1.” However, the Australian regulator found that X provided unsatisfactory responses when questioned about preventing child grooming on the platform, claiming that it was not widely used by young people. X also stated that the available anti-grooming technology was not suitable for deployment on Twitter due to its alleged limitations.
In addition to the fine imposed on X, the e-Safety Commission issued a warning to Alphabet’s Google for noncompliance with requests for information regarding its handling of child abuse content. The commission deemed Google’s responses to certain questions as “generic.” Google stated that it had cooperated with the regulator and expressed disappointment over the warning.
According to the regulator, X’s noncompliance was more severe, with the company failing to answer questions about response times to reports of child abuse, detection of child abuse in livestreams, and the number of staff dedicated to content moderation, safety, and public policy. X confirmed to the regulator that it had reduced its global workforce by 80% and no longer has public policy staff in Australia, compared to the two employees it had prior to Musk’s takeover.
The company also disclosed that proactive detection of child abuse material in public posts had decreased since going private. X cited the technology for detecting such material in private messages as still being in development, according to the regulator.
