Elon Musk's X Corp has been taken to the Federal Court by Australia's online safety watchdog over claims it failed to cooperate with an anti-child abuse probe.
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X, formerly known as Twitter, allegedly failed to respond to a transparency notice issued by Australia's eSafety commission in February.
In September, the social media giant was slapped with a $610,000 fine for its alleged failure to comply with the notice.
The popular social media company, founded in 2006, was merged with X Holdings in April 2023.
It's also alleged X Corp has failed to pay the massive fine as part of the commissioner's civil penalty proceedings on December 21.
The commission has alleged X Corp didn't prepare a "report in the manner and form specified" because it "failed to respond for failed to respond truthfully" to certain questions contained in the notice.
"Social media services are common platforms on which child sexual exploitation abuse material is disseminated, and the grooming of children and live streaming of abuse takes place," the court claim read.
"Promoting and supporting the online safety of Australians requires the providers of social media services to comply with statutory obligations to be transparent."
According to court filings, X Corp has responded to some but not all questions and follow up questions but had still failed to answer three outlined by the commissioner.
A report by the commission released in early 2023 revealed major tech companies like TikTok, Google and Discord weren't committed to their responsibilities in tackling child sexual exploitation.
Under new rules, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant can order online services providers to report on how they're meeting expectations and regulations set out under federal law.
"What we are talking about here are serious crimes playing out on these platforms committed by predatory adults against innocent children and the community expects every tech company to be taking meaningful action," Ms Inman Grant said of the new rules.
"Importantly, next year we will have industry codes and standards in place which work hand-in-hand with these Basic Online Safety Expectations transparency powers to ensure companies are living up to these responsibilities to protect children."
