Elon Musk’s social media venture, the artist formerly known as Twitter and now awkwardly christened simply X, has found itself in a legal tangle with the Australian government over a refusal to turn over internal documents related to election misinformation. Because when democracy calls, apparently X prefers voicemail.
According to Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, X has not been fully cooperative in response to a legal transparency notice. The formal document was issued seeking details on how the platform is handling mischief and misinformation about elections, both within Australia and globally. While other tech giants like TikTok, YouTube and even Meta decided to play nice and hand over the requested information, X dug in its heels and reportedly opted for the digital equivalent of a shrug emoji.
The regulator claims that X’s submission was, to use the technical term, not great. It reportedly lacked crucial information including how the company determines what qualifies as electoral disinformation and the steps it takes to mitigate harm. Also conspicuously absent? Any explanation for why this information was missing. The notice of non-compliance was issued, suggesting X may need a refresher on either Australian regulations or on the concept of transparency more broadly.
Failure to comply with a transparency notice is not just frowned upon in Australia. It comes with the potential for serious fines, up to AU$780,000 per day. A figure that could add up quickly unless Musk plans to pay it off in Dogecoin.
X has yet to respond publicly, though given its owner’s well-documented fondness for free speech and mutual distrust of regulatory oversight, some suspect the silence might be strategic rather than accidental. The company’s official position may become clearer once it issues a statement or possibly tweets something cryptic and vaguely philosophical.
“We’ve provided a reasoned explanation of how we enforce our policies, and we continue to improve our approach,” said no one at X, at least not yet.
For now, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner remains unimpressed and potentially gearing up for a courtroom clash where Musk’s lawyers may have to explain why engaging with regulators seemed lower priority than livestreaming cage fights or renaming the block feature.
Turns out when the law comes knocking, even X needs more than just a character limit to make its case.