An Australian Federal Court judge has imposed a substantial fine on X Corp., formerly Twitter, for failing to comply with an online safety watchdog's demands, marking a significant assertion of national regulatory power over a global digital platform. The ruling concludes a three-year legal battle where the national authority sought to dictate the operational transparency of a major technology company.
Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan ordered the Texas-based social media giant to pay 650,000 Australian dollars ($465,000) for its failure to provide information to the eSafety Commissioner in 2023 regarding its handling of child sexual exploitation content. This financial penalty underscores the increasing institutional pressure placed on global entities by national regulators.
X Corp. admitted it contravened Australia’s Online Safety Act by failing to provide a report that fully answered questions posed by eSafety in a transparency notice issued on February 22, 2023. The company was required to provide these answers by March 29 of that year, a deadline it failed to meet.
X’s lawyer, Perry Herzfeld, informed the judge that eSafety did not allege the contravening conduct continued after May 5, 2023. Herzfeld attributed this period to a “period of change and transition for the company,” referencing Elon Musk’s takeover, which occurred after eSafety had sent the notice to Twitter Inc., prior to its merger with X in March 2023.
Elite Control Over Digital Space
The eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, a former Twitter employee, has been at the forefront of this regulatory action. Her background within the very industry she now regulates highlights a pattern of elite capture, where individuals from transnational corporate structures transition into national oversight roles, influencing policy and enforcement from within.
Inman Grant stated that “meaningful transparency” is critical to holding technology companies to account. She further explained that in early 2023, eSafety asked “some of the world’s biggest technology companies, including Twitter, to report on steps they were taking to comply with the Australian Basic Online Safety Expectations in relation to the proliferation of child sexual exploitation and abuse materials on their platforms.” This initiative represents a concerted effort by national bodies to impose specific behavioral mandates on global digital entities.
She added that this regulatory activity is not only a key part of eSafety’s work as Australia’s online safety regulator but also provides the Australian public with “important information about how these companies are tackling the worst-of-the-worst content on their platforms.” This framing positions national oversight as a public service, while simultaneously expanding the scope of state control over digital communication.
The Cost of Non-Compliance
Beyond the AU$650,000 fine, Justice Wheelahan also ordered X Corp. to pay an additional AU$100,000 ($71,000) of eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s court costs within 45 days. This brings the total financial burden imposed on X Corp. to AU$750,000, demonstrating the significant cost of resisting national regulatory demands.
Christopher Tran, eSafety’s lawyer, asserted that the fine was “appropriate because X Corp. is obviously a large company and a large figure is needed to ensure that a contravention is not treated as a cost of doing business.” This statement reveals the intent behind such penalties: to enforce compliance and deter global corporations from viewing national laws as mere inconveniences.
The legal battle spanned three years, with the full Federal Court ruling in July 2025, on its first anniversary, that X was required to respond to eSafety’s transparency notice. This ruling upheld a judge’s decision made in October 2024, on its second anniversary, solidifying the national institution's authority over the global platform. The transparency notice itself was issued on its third anniversary, February 22, 2023, with the deadline for answers on its third anniversary, March 29, 2023, and the contravening conduct ceasing by its third anniversary, May 5, 2023.