Elon Musk’s

An Australian court has upheld a $418,000 fine against him Tesla And SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Social media platform Xearlier Twitterfor failing to comply with a supervisory authority’s request for information on anti-child abuse practices.

What happened: Australia’s Federal Court upheld the fine against X, who had challenged the sentence, Reuters reported on Friday.

The court ruled that X was obliged to respond to a notice from the eSafety representativean internet safety watchdog, is seeking details of measures to combat child sexual exploitation material on the platform.

X had argued that it was not required to respond to the notice in early 2023 because it had been folded into a new corporate entity controlled by Musk, eliminating liability.

See also: OpenAI’s SearchGPT set to disrupt Google’s search empire as a former engineer raises alarm about deteriorating user experience amid increasing competition

Following the verdict, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said: “Would be the argument of

The eSafety officer has also initiated civil proceedings against X for its non-compliance, the report said.

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Why it matters: This development is part of a larger narrative that includes the Australian government’s increasing control of social media platforms.

In April 2024, Musk responded to the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Criticism of the removal of a violent video from X.

The following month, he criticized the Australian government’s call for a “social license” for social media platforms.

Meanwhile, the Australian prime minister has targeted Albanese Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms Inc. also for its behavior and called on the social media giant to continue paying local media organizations for their content.

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