Australia has fined social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) over $610,000 under the Online Safety Act.
This is the first time an online company has been fined under this act.
Elon Musk-owned Platform X is being fined for failing to respond to questions about curbs on child abuse content, according to officials.
The social media company has to pay the fine within 28 days or answer the questions that were ignored.
Legal notices were issued to Apple, Metta, Microsoft and Snapchat last year under Australia’s Online Safety Act, and to X, Google and TikTok in February 2023.
A report by e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant based on the response of technology companies to the notices was released on October 16.
The report found that most major technology companies have failed to prevent and delete child abuse content.
According to Julie Grant, most companies responded, but X and Google did not follow up on our notices, with Google answering some questions while X completely ignored them.
A formal warning has been issued to Google while X has been fined.
According to Julie Grant, Tik Tok is the most transparent of all companies.
If X fails to respond and submit details, then the social media company will be taken to federal court, where it could face hefty fines, he said.