Overview

• Three Federal Court judges unanimously dismissed X Corp.’s appeal and reaffirmed its obligation to respond to the eSafety Commissioner’s reporting notice under Australia’s Online Safety Act.
• Justice Bernard Murphy directed X Corp. to pay the commissioner’s legal costs after rejecting arguments that the Twitter-to-X merger voided its child safety reporting duties.
• X Corp has not paid the A$610,500 penalty imposed in September 2023 for its incomplete response and faces a separate federal case over that fine.
• eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant welcomed the decision as a necessary check on attempts to use corporate restructuring to evade regulatory oversight.
• The outcome underscores Australia’s strengthening digital safety framework, which includes a December 2025 ban on social media access for users under 16.