The larger they seem to appear, the shorter they become with every spanner in the firm. Elon Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter, has been issued a $386,000 fine for neglecting a prompt response to a “key question” about the precautions the social media platform is planning or has already implemented on Child Abuse. Among X, the notice has also been issued to Google, TikTok, Twitch, Discord, and X.
In February, the company was asked to add a proper answer about addressing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) under the country’s Online Safety Act. At the same time, the monetary agreement and costs of the fine couldn’t be significant. X must be in reputation management, as the platform is already struggling to maintain advertisers.
X is fined a $386,000 fine for neglecting a prompt response on Child Abuse content
The company was severely criticized for not providing timely and accurate answers to the regulator’s questions; even some questions were left “completely blank.”
In addition, the platform failed to provide information on CSAM detection technology in live streams and mentioned that it doesn’t imitate anything to address the issue.
X is not a standalone jailbird, as Google has also been found guilty of stipulating generic responses. eSafety mentioned that these responses weren’t sufficient to take on the issue.
However, Google left with a severe warning instead of a hefty fine, highlighting that Google’s shortcomings weren’t a high priority. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant criticized Twitter/X for failing to observe its vows about battling Child Abuse.
If Twitter/X, and Google can’t come up with answers to critical questions about how they are tackling child abuse and sexual exploitation, they either don’t want to answer for how it might be perceived publicly or they need better systems to scrutinize their operations. Both scenarios concern us and suggest they are not living up to their responsibilities and the expectations of the Australian community.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant
Earlier this month, India issued notices to X, YouTube, and Telegram, instructing them to remove CSAM from their platforms.
Last week, the EU formally stated X is asking to provide details under the Digital Services Act (DSA) regarding the measures the social media company is implementing to address false information related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
