Elon Musk’s X to Pay $750,000 After Delayed Replies to eSafety Commissioner

Social media behemoth X Corp has agreed to pay a total of $750,000, including a $650,000 penalty and $100,000 in legal costs, after failing to comply on time with an eSafety Commissioner request about child sexual abuse material online.

The Federal Court approved the agreement on May 21, with Justice Michael Wheelahan declaring by consent that X Corp had breached Section 57 of the Online Safety Act.

The $650,000 penalty is just below the maximum available fine of $687,500 for the contravention.

The case centred on delays in X Corp’s responses to questions issued by the eSafety Commissioner in 2023, shortly after Twitter merged into X Corp following Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform.

X Corp submitted an initial report to the regulator on March 29, 2023, but the eSafety Commissioner later sought further information after determining not all questions had been answered.

The company argued mitigating factors in the case including the eSafety notice being issued at a time when significant corporate changes were afoot and also that the Commissioner’s request had included sensitive information that required the allocation of significant resources.

It was further argued by X Corp the required data was not stored in a way that allowed some answers to be easily produced.

The court heard all clarifying responses had been provided by May 5, 2023—a fact agreed to by the eSafety Commissioner.

Nonetheless, the court declared by consent that X Corp had contravened an online safety act by not responding in time to the Commissioner’s requests.

“It is in the public interest for the Commissioner, as the regulator, to seek a declaration and for a declaration to be made,” Justice Wheelahan noted in his reasons.

“The objects of the Online Safety Act are to improve and promote the safety of Australians online. The basic online safety expectations are directed to minimising the prevalence of abusive, violent, or otherwise sensitive material.

“The reporting requirements under the Act are an essential aspect of enforcing those expectations.

“Accordingly, where the operator of a large social media platform has failed to comply with those reporting requirements, the public has an interest in the Commissioner seeking and obtaining a public declaration of contravention, which will contribute to a deterrent effect.”

X Corp has been ordered to pay the penalty and legal costs within 45 days.