Elon
Musk
killed
off
the
Twitter
logo
on
July
24,
2023,
replacing
the
world-recognized
blue
bird
with
a
white
X
as
the
tycoon
accelerates
his
efforts
to
transform
the
floundering
social
media
giant.
Chris
Delmas
|
AFP
|
Getty
Images
Australia’s
eSafety
commissioner
on
Sunday
fined
X,
the
social
media
platform
formerly
known
as
Twitter,
610,500
Australian
dollars,
over
$380,000
U.S.,
for
failing
to
properly
disclose
information
about
how
it
polices
child
abuse
content.
“Twitter/X
has
stated
publicly
that
tackling
child
sexual
exploitation
is
the
number
1
priority for
the
company,
but
it
can’t
just
be
empty
talk,
we
need
to
see
words
backed
up
with tangible
action,”
Commissioner
Julie
Inman
Grant
said
in
a
statement.
X
has
28
days
to
respond
to
or
pay
the
eSafety
office’s
fine.
It’s
a
relatively
small
price
tag
for
the
multibillion-dollar
tech
platform,
but
it
represents
another
nail
in
the
coffin
for
a
company
that
has
come
under
fire
for
its
content
moderation
practices,
especially
after
it
was
acquired
and
rebranded
by
Elon
Musk.
Australia
issued
the
fine
under
its
Online
Safety
Act,
introduced
in
2021.
The
legislation
requires
online
service
providers
to
report
how
they
crack
down
on
child
abuse
content
on
their
platforms.
Under
that
law,
companies
can
face
civil
penalties
for
failing
to
meet
that
reporting
requirement.
In
February,
Australia’s
eSafety
office
sent
a
legal
memo
to
X,
which
was
at
that
point
Twitter,
along
with
other
tech
companies
like
Google,
TikTok,
Twitch
and
Discord.
The
notices
had
specific
questions
for
the
companies
to
answer
about
how
they
handle
child
exploitation
content.
According
to
the
eSafety
commissioner,
X
did
not
answer
many
of
the
questions
and
left
“some
sections
entirely
blank.”
X
was
not
the
only
tech
giant
that
the
eSafety
office
took
issue
with.
It
said
it
found
“serious
shortfalls”
in
how
child
abuse
content
is
policed
on
the
five
platforms
it
filed
legal
notices
to.
The
office
also
noted
that
Google
has
been
issued
“a
formal
warning”
for
giving
“generic
responses
to
specific
questions.”
However,
X
received
an
official
fine
because
its
failure
to
comply
with
Australia’s
reporting
standards
was
more
egregious,
according
to
the
commissioner.
For
example,
the
company
did
not
provide
information
on
how
long
it
takes
to
respond
to
child
abuse
reports,
how
it
detects
child
sexual
exploitation
on
its
platform
and
how
many
safety
and
public
policy
employees
it
has.
In
December
2022,
NBC
News
and
CNBC
obtained
internal
records
showing
that
about
25
employees
held
titles
related
to
“Trust
and
Safety”
out
of
roughly
a
total
of
1,600
staff
members
who
were
still
employed
there
at
the
time.
