X Corp Loses Legal Battle Over Australia Child Safety Fine

Elon Musk’s social media company X Corp has officially admitted breaching Australia’s Online Safety Act after failing to provide required details about its child protection measures, ending a legal dispute that lasted nearly three years. The Federal Court of Australia upheld a regulator-imposed fine against the company, marking another significant clash between Musk’s platform and global online safety regulators.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner originally fined the company, formerly known as Twitter, A$610,500 in October 2023. Regulators said X failed to properly respond to questions regarding its systems designed to combat online child exploitation and abuse. During Thursday’s court hearing, lawyer Christopher Tran, representing the eSafety Commissioner, confirmed that X Corp admitted violating the law.

According to court statements, the company remained noncompliant for 38 days after receiving the official request for information. Judge Michael Wheelahan increased the total payout to A$650,000 and ordered X to pay an additional A$100,000 to help cover legal expenses incurred by the regulator.

The dispute began after Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion and later rebranded the platform as X. Initially, the company attempted to challenge the fine by arguing that the entity’s name had changed following the acquisition. However, the regulator pursued separate legal action to recover the penalty.

X Corp’s lawyer, Perry Herzfeld, told the court the issue centered on delays in supplying information during a period of corporate transition and restructuring. He described the matter as related to “historic issues” involving the timeliness of responses.

The eSafety Commissioner acknowledged that no direct harm resulted from the delay but stressed that failing to cooperate with regulators obstructs efforts to protect children online. The case highlights increasing pressure on major social media companies to strengthen online safety policies and comply with international digital regulations in 2026.