Elon Musk’s X calls for delay in Australia’s child social media ban citing ‘serious concerns’ about policy’s lawfulness

In its submission, X said less than 1% of the platform’s Australian X users were under 16, and while the company agreed strategies were needed to mitigate the risk of harm to children, it had concerns about the social media ban. Photograph: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Elon Musk’s X has called for a delay in Australia’s under-16s social media ban, arguing it has “serious concerns” about the lawfulness of the “punitive” policy.

X was one of over a dozen companies the eSafety commissioner wrote to earlier this month, asking whether they believed they should be required to ban children under 16 years of age from their platform from 10 December, when the law is due to come into effect.