Australia’s Online Regulator Concedes It Has No Power to Force Musk’s X to Pay Fine

eSafety admitted it had no enforcement power to make X pay a $610,000 fine.

A photo taken on Nov. 17, 2023 shows the logo of US online social media and social networking service X (formerly Twitter) on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

The Australian eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) has admitted it has no power to force social media giant X, formerly known as Twitter, to pay a $610,000 (US$393,000) fine issued last year.

During a Senate Committee hearing on Feb. 13, eSafety’s representatives said Elon Musk’s X had yet to pay the fine even though the deadline had long passed.