Australian Court Upholds $465,000 Fine Against X Corp Over Online Safety Breach

An Australian Federal Court has upheld a fine against X Corp , ordering the social media company to pay AUD 650,000 (USD 465,000) for failing to comply with a regulatory request concerning online safety obligations linked to child protection content.

The ruling, delivered by Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan, also ordered X Corp to pay an additional AUD 100,000 in legal costs to Australia’s online safety regulator, bringing a long-running legal dispute to an end.

The case stemmed from a February 2023 transparency notice issued by the eSafety Commissioner , which required major tech platforms to provide detailed information on how they were addressing child sexual exploitation material and other harmful content online.

X Corp failed to fully respond by the March 29, 2023 deadline and later submitted an incomplete report, prompting enforcement action. The company later acknowledged that it had not complied with all requirements of the notice.

Court records confirm that X Corp argued it was not legally bound to respond fully, partly because the notice had been issued to Twitter Inc., which merged into X Corp shortly afterward following Elon Musk’s acquisition and restructuring of the platform in 2023. However, the court rejected this argument, ruling that regulatory obligations continued despite the corporate transition.

The legal dispute has lasted for nearly three years and included multiple judicial stages. A previous ruling by the Full Federal Court in 2025 had already confirmed that X Corp remained obligated to comply with the transparency notice, reinforcing the regulator’s authority under Australia’s Online Safety Act .

During proceedings, X Corp’s legal representatives stated that the period of non-compliance occurred during a transitional phase after Musk’s takeover. However, the court found that the failure to respond properly constituted a breach of statutory obligations.

Lawyers for the eSafety Commissioner argued that the penalty needed to be substantial given the company’s global scale, stressing that fines must deter major platforms from treating regulatory violations as routine business costs.

The regulator’s head, Julie Inman Grant , said the case reinforces the importance of transparency in holding technology companies accountable. She said disclosure requirements are essential for understanding how platforms address the spread of severe online harms, particularly content involving child exploitation.

She also noted that Australia’s online safety framework is designed to ensure that global tech companies meet consistent standards of responsibility, regardless of corporate restructuring or ownership changes.