Australia’s internet safety watchdog on Thursday threatened to fine Twitter for failing to control online abuse.
E-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant, said the platform was now responsible for one-in-three complaints about online hate speech reported in Australia.
Grant said Twitter had 28 days to show it was serious about tackling the problem or face fines of Aus$700,000 (US$475,000) for every day it missed the deadline.
Since Musk bought the platform in October 2022, he has slashed more than 80 percent of the global workforce, including many of the content moderators responsible for stamping out abuse. In November, Musk declared a broad amnesty that allowed tens of thousands of suspended or banned accounts to rejoin the platform.
Australia’s deadline to Twitter is the latest addition to the series of legal problems Twitter is facing. Major music publishers in the United States launched a legal suit targeting Twitter this month, arguing that the platform had failed to stop “rampant” copyright infringement.
And a European Union commissioner also in June accused Twitter of choosing “confrontation”, after it pulled out of a voluntary digital code of practice.
