On July 24, 2023, Elon Musk made a bold move by replacing Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo with a white X as part of his ongoing efforts to revitalize the struggling social media giant.
Photo by Chris Delmas | AFP | Getty Images
The eSafety commissioner in Australia has recently fined X, formerly known as Twitter, AUD 610,500 (over $380,000 USD) for its failure to transparently disclose its methods for handling child abuse content on the platform.
“X has publicly claimed that combating child sexual exploitation is their top priority, but empty words are not enough. We need tangible actions to back up those claims,” said Commissioner Julie Inman Grant in a statement.
X has 28 days to either respond to the fine or pay it, which, considering its multi-billion dollar valuation, is a relatively small sum. However, it marks another setback for the company, which has faced criticism regarding its content moderation practices following its acquisition and rebranding by Elon Musk.
Australia imposed this fine based on its Online Safety Act, implemented in 2021. This legislation mandates that online service providers disclose their measures for combatting child abuse content on their platforms. Failure to comply may result in civil penalties.
In February, Australia’s eSafety office sent a legal memorandum to X, as well as other tech giants such as Google, TikTok, Twitch, and Discord. These notices posed specific questions regarding their handling of child exploitation content.
According to the eSafety commissioner, X did not adequately address many of these questions and left some sections completely unanswered.
X wasn’t the only tech giant scrutinized by the eSafety office. The office found significant shortcomings in how child abuse content is managed on all five platforms that received legal notices.
Furthermore, the office issued a formal warning to Google for providing generic responses instead of specific answers.
However, X received an official fine due to its more egregious violation of Australia’s reporting standards, as stated by the commissioner.
For instance, X failed to provide information on response times to child abuse reports, methods for detecting child sexual exploitation, and the number of employees dedicated to safety and public policy.
In December 2022, internal records obtained by NBC News and CNBC revealed that out of approximately 1,600 remaining staff members, only about 25 held positions related to “Trust and Safety”.
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