Twitter Fined for Failing to Tackle Child Sex Abuse Content

The company formerly known as Twitter has been hit with a fine of $610,500 Australian dollars ($386,000) by Australia’s e-Safety Commission for not adequately disclosing information on how it handles child sex abuse content. This latest setback for the Elon Musk-owned social media platform comes after the European Commission opened an investigation into the company for disinformation and illegal content on its platform related to the Israel-Hamas war.

The e-Safety Commission accused Twitter of falling short in responding to questions about its approach to dealing with child abuse materials. The commission said that Twitter failed to provide any response to some questions, left sections blank, or provided incomplete or inaccurate answers. In a statement, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant emphasized the need for tangible action in tackling child sexual exploitation, stating that words alone are not enough.

This issue arose in February when Inman Grant sent inquiries to several tech firms, including Twitter, TikTok, Google (including YouTube), Discord, and Twitch, regarding the steps they were taking to address crimes against children occurring on their platforms. The responses received revealed troubling shortcomings and inconsistencies. The eSafety Commissioner deemed Twitter’s failure to comply with the commission’s inquiries as more serious than that of other companies.

Twitter now has 28 days to either request a withdrawal of the notice or pay the fine. As of now, the company has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the matter.

The e-Safety Commission highlighted specific questions that Twitter failed to answer, including the platform’s response time to reports of child sexual exploitation, measures it has in place to detect exploitation in livestreams, and the tools and technologies it uses to identify child sexual exploitation materials. When asked about preventing grooming of children by sexual predators, Twitter responded by stating that it is not widely used by young people and its technology is not sufficiently capable or accurate.

Google also faced criticism from the eSafety Commissioner for failing to answer certain key questions related to child abuse. The tech giant has been issued a formal warning to deter future non-compliance. Lucinda Longcroft, Google’s director of government affairs and public policy for Australia and New Zealand, expressed the company’s commitment to fighting the spread of child sexual abuse material and its willingness to collaborate with the eSafety Commissioner.

In a previous report, the Australian regulator uncovered significant deficiencies in how Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Skype, Snap, WhatsApp, and Omegle address online child sexual exploitation.

The issue of child sex abuse content remains a significant concern for online platforms, and it is crucial for companies to take concrete actions to combat this problem and ensure the safety of their users, especially vulnerable children.