Court Revives Negligence Claim Against Elon Musk’s X Over Child Exploitation Content

A U.S. federal appeals court has reinstated part of a lawsuit alleging Elon Musk’s platform X, formerly Twitter, failed to act swiftly on child sexual exploitation content. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that X must face claims of negligence for allegedly delaying the reporting of explicit material involving minors to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

The lawsuit stems from incidents predating Musk’s 2022 acquisition of Twitter. Plaintiffs, identified as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, were 13 when they were coerced on SnapChat into sending explicit images to a trafficker posing as a peer. Those images were later compiled into a video posted on Twitter, which remained online for nine days and garnered over 167,000 views before removal and reporting.

Circuit Judge Danielle Forrest stated that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields platforms from liability over user-generated content, does not protect X once it had “actual knowledge” of the child pornography and failed to promptly report it. The court also allowed claims that X’s reporting system made it difficult to flag abusive content but dismissed allegations that X profited from sex trafficking or amplified harmful posts through its search features.

X, which did not immediately comment, previously won dismissal of the case in December 2023. The lawsuit, Doe 1 et al v. Twitter Inc., highlights ongoing legal challenges for social media platforms over handling child exploitation content and reporting obligations under federal law.

Lawyer Dani Pinter of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, representing the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling, saying it opens the door for discovery and trial to seek justice and accountability from X.