Since Elon Musk’s ownership…
An Australian regulator has sent legal notices to Twitter and Google asking them to hand over information about their steps to stop online child abuse, drawing them into a crackdown that has already put pressure on other tech firms.
The action by the country's e-safety commissioner keeps a spotlight on the anti-exploitation practices at Twitter under the ownership of Elon Musk, who called child protection his top priority while also laying off more than half its employees since his take over.
"With Mr. Musk declaring child sexual abuse a top priority, this is an opportunity for him to explain what he is doing," e-safety commissioner Julie Inman Grant told Reuters in an interview.
She said it was in Twitter's interests to show that it was acting effectively to eradicate child sexual abuse material, otherwise advertisers could turn away from the company.
Inman Grant, who had served as a public policy director for Twitter until 2016, said the responses of larger tech firms, coupled with reports of looser content moderation at Twitter since Mr Musk took over, prompted her to take action.
Twitter closed its Australian office after Elon Musk's buyout so there was no local representative to respond to Reuters, and a request for comment sent to the San Francisco-based company's media email address was not immediately answered.
Apart from writing to Twitter, the commissioner also sent letters to Google, owner of YouTube the Google Drive unit, and China's TikTok.
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