X loses court battle against Australia over child abuse safety notice

The Federal Court has ruled that X Corp must comply with an Australian child sexual abuse transparency notice issued to the social media giant when it was still called Twitter.

Australia’s Electronic Security Commissioner took the matter to the Federal Court after X Corp challenged a $610,500 fine in September 2023.

The fine stems from an infringement notice issued by eSafety because X Corp failed to provide information on how it met basic online safety expectations with respect to hardware and child sexual exploitation and abuse activities on Twitter.

But X Corp argued that the notice did not apply because the company did not exist at the time the notice was issued. The notice was sent to Twitter in February 2023 and X Corp came into existence in March 2023.

In a 30-second hearing in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Friday, Judge Michael Wheelahan dismissed the proceedings and ordered X Corp to pay eSafety’s legal costs.

The court published its reasons online.

This case is separate from the court case over a video of a stabbing at a Sydney church.

X Corp objected to a takedown notice from eSafety regarding this video, and the commission withdrew the case in June.

X and eSafety have several disputes pending before the Federal Court and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

After Elon Musk acquired Twitter Inc, the company merged with X Corp.

In his ruling, Justice Wheelahan says that in a digital age where children’s access to the internet is ubiquitous, the Online Safety Act is an important part of Commonwealth legislation.

The Online Safety Act notice was provided to Twitter 21 days before it merged with X and ceased to exist.

This notice required an explanation of how the company complied with applicable baseline expectations for online security from January 2022 to January 2023.

The commission argued that the report it received contained no answers, was incomplete or inaccurate.

“In some areas, data is unavailable or impacted by other limitations, but Twitter welcomes tracking and engagement that can help elucidate security and service approaches or commitments in meaningful ways for the Commission and users in Australia,” replied an official. to the eSafety Commission.

Follow-up questions were sent to the social media company, but the company responded by saying it wanted an extension and also claiming that Twitter “has ceased to exist as a legal entity.”

The Commission granted two extensions.

An X Corp response to the proceedings referred to “X Corp’s concluding observations.” (interested successor to Twitter, Inc.)” attached.

But a month later, eSafety issued the infringement notice; an itemized fine for various alleged violations of the Online Safety Act, totaling $610,500.

Judge Wheelahan evaluated the structure of the laws of Delaware – where Twitter was incorporated – and the laws of Nevada – where X is registered – to make his decision.

It also found that X Corp violated the terms of the notice’s original reporting deadline.

Second, the court found that the eSafety Infringement Notice failed to identify a “place” where the violations occurred.

X Corp argued that this invalidated the notice, but Judge Wheelahan said the error “must be discerned as the result of a process of statutory interpretation” and ruled against X Corp on the “venue” aspect. “.