MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥 An Australian appeals court on Thursday ruled against X Corp., rejecting a challenge to a safety watchdog's demands for details on how the Elon Musk -owned company was combating widespread child exploitation material on its platform.
Three federal court judges unanimously rejected X鈥檚 appeal against a federal court decision in October last year that the company was obliged to respond to a notice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant on child abuse material being shared on X, which is incorporated in Texas.
The judges also ordered X to pay the commissioner鈥檚 legal costs. Inman Grant鈥檚 office describes itself as the world鈥檚 first government agency dedicated to keeping people safe online.
Inman Grant has driven world-first legislation that will ban younger than 16 from social media platforms including X from December.
The federal court case goes back to early 2023, when Inman Grant asked some of the world鈥檚 largest technology companies to report on what they were doing about child abuse material appearing on their platforms.
A reporting notice, issued under Australia鈥檚 Online Safety Act, was sent to ., incorporated in Delaware, in February that year.
Twitter merged with X the following month.
X arguments against complying with Inman Grant鈥檚 order included that Twitter no longer existed as a legal entity and that X did not carry its predecessor's regulatory obligations in Australia.
Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee, welcomed Thursday鈥檚 ruling.
鈥淭his judgment confirms the obligations to comply with Australian regulations still apply, regardless of a foreign company鈥檚 merger with another foreign company,鈥 she said in a statement.
She said her agency would continue enforcing the Online Safety Act and 鈥渉olding all tech companies to account without fear or favor, ensuring they comply with the laws of Australia.鈥
鈥淲ithout meaningful transparency, we cannot hold technology companies accountable,鈥 she said.
X lawyer Justin Quill said he had not yet read the appeals court judges鈥 reasons and could not comment on the possibility of a High Court appeal.
The High Court only hears around 10% of appeal applications, so the federal court full-bench decision could be final in X's case.
X鈥檚 media office did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on Thursday.
In 2023, Inman Grant鈥檚 office 610, 500 Australian dollars ($385,000) for failing to fully explain how it tackled child exploitation content. X鈥檚 response was considered incomplete or misleading.
X refused to pay and the penalty is the subject of a separate and ongoing federal court case.
