Elon Musk's X accused Australia of trying to give its internet regulator unfair information-gathering powers and undermining U.S. law with plans for tougher enforcement of a teen social media ban.
Australia’s world-first law barring social media accounts for users under 16 took effect last December, drawing criticism from social media companies, most of them based in the United States.
The dispute involving X, whose parent company is Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has added a geopolitical dimension to the debate.
X told an Australian Senate committee that the proposed changes did not give "due regard to procedural fairness, privacy, the broader impacts on online services, and Australia's digital economy."
In its submission published on Tuesday, the platform criticised plans to expand the eSafety Commissioner’s document discovery powers and double the maximum fine to A$99 million ($69 million).
A U.S. congressional committee has already asked Australia’s eSafety Commissioner to testify, accusing the regulator of threatening American free speech.
Musk previously called the Australian social media ban a "backdoor way to control access to the internet by all Australians" in a post on X.
Data published by eSafety and studies conducted since the ban came into force indicate that many Australian teenagers under 16 continue to have social media accounts.
The regulator said it is preparing potential enforcement action against five platforms but is being hindered by limited powers. It argued that its inability to compel documents from platforms and third-party age assurance providers creates significant barriers to investigations.
Industry group DIGI, which represents several platforms, said eSafety already had broad enforcement powers that had not been fully tested and called for greater clarity over document requests.
Google’s YouTube and TikTok said in separate submissions that there was no known foolproof method to identify and block underage users.
Australia’s parliament has not yet passed the bill expanding enforcement powers. The Senate committee is expected to deliver its findings on 25 August after holding hearings.
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Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is preparing to deploy additional North Korean forces on its territory and has received more ballistic missiles from Pyongyang, arguing that their growing military cooperation poses a threat beyond Ukraine.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Ukraine has agreed to refrain from targeting certain tankers using Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk following a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported, although Kyiv has continued strikes on Russian targets at the port.
Taiwan has criticised a planned joint naval exercise involving China and Indonesia near its eastern waters, describing it as a politically charged move designed to strengthen Beijing's claims over areas surrounding the island.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk killed an eight-year-old child, injured others and damaged residential buildings, port infrastructure and grain facilities, Russian officials and industry sources said on Wednesday.
Romanian military divers have destroyed two Gerbera-type drones found drifting near the Neptun Deep offshore gas development in the country’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone.
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