Australia Slams X for Ineffective Measures Against Child Sexual Abuse Online - Shocking Findings!

Australia fined the company formerly known as Twitter AUD 610,500 ($386,000) on Monday for inadequate disclosure of its approach to addressing child sex abuse content, marking a new setback for the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. The European Commission also initiated a formal investigation into X, following a prior warning regarding disinformation and illegal content related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The online safety regulator, Australias e-Safety Commission, stated on Monday that X did not sufficiently address several inquiries regarding their handling of child abuse materials. The commission accused the platform of not responding to certain questions, leaving sections blank, or providing incomplete or inaccurate answers.

"Addressing child sexual exploitation is declared as the topmost priority for Twitter/X, as stated publicly. However, mere words are not enough; we insist on witnessing concrete actions alongside these claims," stated eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.

Previously, in February, Inman Grant inquired about the measures being taken by five tech companies, namely X, TikTok, Google (including YouTube), Discord, and Twitch, to combat the increasing incidents of crimes against children occurring on their platforms.

"Their responses unveiled distressing deficiencies and discrepancies," stated Inman Grant. The commissioner further emphasized that X's failure to adhere was "particularly grave" compared to other companies.

The platform is given a period of 28 days to either initiate a retraction of the notice or make the payment.

X failed to promptly provide a comment to CNN's request. The commission noted that X neglected to address several crucial inquiries, such as the duration for platform responsiveness regarding reports of child sexual exploitation, the protocols implemented to identify such exploitation in livestreams, and the methods and technologies employed to detect materials depicting child sexual exploitation.

When questioned about the actions taken by the platform to prevent the grooming of children by sexual predators, X responded by stating that only a small number of young individuals utilize the service. Additionally, X mentioned that the current technology lacks adequate capability and accuracy.

The regulator criticized Google for its failure to address several important inquiries pertaining to child abuse. As a result, the American tech company has received an official warning to discourage any future non-compliance.

Lucinda Longcroft, the director of government affairs and public policy for Australia and New Zealand at Google, informed CNN that the company has made significant investments in the collective effort to eradicate the distribution of child sexual abuse content. Furthermore, she asserted that Google remains dedicated to fostering constructive collaboration and maintaining a good faith partnership with the eSafety Commissioner.

As per a previous statement from the Australian regulatory authority, it revealed significant deficiencies in the approaches taken by Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap, WhatsApp, and Omegle to combat online child sexual exploitation.