Australian court rules X not subject to online-safety standard
By Sean Maguire and Saloni Sinha ( August 12, 2026, 07:00 GMT | Insight) -- X Corp. has won its challenge to an Australian online-safety standard aimed at curbing harmful content, with the court ruling that X is a social-media service and cannot also be regulated as a messaging service. Judge Elizabeth Raper said the Online Safety Act was built around separate, “siloed” categories, but her ruling did not invalidate the standard itself. Australia's online-safety regulator said it is considering its next steps and stressed that the standard remains valid and enforceable, while X remains subject to Australia’s social-media code.X Corp. has won its challenge against Australia’s online-safety regulator, with a judge ruling the US tech giant operates as a social-media service and is not subject to separate rules aimed at curbing the spread of specific harmful content. ...
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