X faces Irish probe over children seeing pornography

Ireland’s media regulator opened an investigation on Tuesday into Elon Musk’s X over whether the platform is doing enough to stop children seeing pornography and extreme violence.

X has its European headquarters in Ireland, bringing it within the remit of the Irish regulator’s Online Safety Code. Coimisiun na Mean said it would examine X’s age checks and parental controls in the first formal investigation launched under the code.

The code requires platforms to use effective age checks so children do not normally see videos containing pornography or extreme or gratuitous violence. The regulator said simply asking users to declare their age is not enough.

Coimisiun na Mean will also investigate whether X’s parental controls meet the code’s requirements. It said it had concerns that the controls may not be effective, could be difficult to find and were not adequately brought to users’ attention when they opened an account.

X allows adult-only content on its platform while also allowing children under 16 to use the service.

If X is found to have broken the code, it could face a fine of up to 10 percent of relevant annual turnover or 20 million euros, or $23 million, whichever is greater.

The Irish regulator is already investigating X under the European Union’s Digital Services Act over concerns about users’ rights to appeal content moderation decisions. It is also involved in a separate European Commission investigation into suspected risks linked to X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok.