Australia’s premier online safety organization, the eSafety Commission, has imposed a sanction of 610,500 Australian dollars (US $385,000) on X, formerly known as Twitter, citing the company’s failure to cogently reveal its safety precautions surrounding child sexual exploitation content.
Touted as the world’s pioneer government body primarily focused on ensuring online safety, the eSafety Commission raised transparency notices at the beginning of the year directed at X and other platforms. This legal action questioned these platforms’ measures in curbing the increasing instances of child sexual exploitation, sexual extortion, and live streaming of child sexual abuse.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant expressed that both X and Google were unable to comply with these notices due to their inadequate response to certain queries. X, now controlled by magnate Elon Musk, underperformed particularly by providing no response to some crucial queries. For instance, it failed to disclose the number of personnel remaining in the trust and safety team responsible for curbing harmful and illegal content, following Musk’s takeover.
The eSafety Commissioner suggested a certain level of defiance in their actions, stating, “If you’ve got a basic H.R. (human resources) system or payroll, you’ll know how many people are on each team.”
Following Musk’s acquisition of the company in the previous October, the new owner significantly reduced costs and cut down jobs. As of now, X has provided no response to this issue.
X has the option of contesting the fine in the Australian Federal Court. In the event of non-compliance, however, the court possesses the power to enforce a penalty of up to AU$780,000 ($493,402) daily, counting since March when X was first identified as a violator of the transparency notice.
Commissioner Inman Grant has reaffirmed the eSafety Commission’s resolve to ensure transparency from X, warning, “They can keep stonewalling and we’ll keep fining them.”
Additionally, Google has been issued a formal warning by the Commission for providing generic responses to granular questions. Google regional director Lucinda Longcroft has responded that the company uses a diverse range of technologies to detect, remove and report child sexual abuse material. The company has affirmed its commitment to child safety by stating, “Since our earliest days we have invested heavily in the industry-wide fight to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material.”
 $385,000 for unclear child exploitation safety precautions with potential for greater penalties.){kind=link}