For the second time in a year, social media giant X has ignored court orders in a democratic country. Following a conflict with the Brazilian state in 2024, a British Columbia court has now fined X approximately USD70,000 for violating the Privacy Protection Act. The company geolocated the content instead of removing it—as ordered by the court—and the ruling enables new daily sanctions as long as the disobedience persists.
Elon Musk’s Platform X is once again facing sanctions for defying a court order. In 2024, the company refused to comply with provisions of Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal and now, in Canada, it has received the maximum fine of 100,000 Canadian dollars (USD 72,307) for failing to remove a non-consensual intimate image of a woman.
The Civil Resolution Tribunal had ruled in March that the post violated the province’s Intimate Image Protection Act and ordered the company to remove it. However, the platform chose to geotag the content to prevent it from being viewed within Canada, allowing users outside of Canada to continue viewing and sharing it.
Vice-President Eric Regehr rejected the company’s argument that he lacked the authority to force it to «restrict or remove the online availability of intimate images outside of British Columbia.” “I ordered the internet intermediaries, including X, to remove the intimate image. X received the order, but did not remove it… X breached the protective order,” he said.
The affected woman, identified as “TR” to protect her identity, continues to be exposed to the possibility of her image being circulated on the platform. According to the ruling, “she lives with the certainty that the vast majority of the world’s population can still see the intimate image on X.” The court opened the possibility of seeking additional sanctions of up to 5,000 Canadian dollars for each day the social network persists in its non-compliance until March.
The British Columbia Attorney General’s Office told Reuters it expects the company to pay the fines and comply with the law, and that it does not anticipate further enforcement challenges.
This case sets a precedent in Canada, as it is the first time that sanctions have been imposed against a social media platform for violating regulations protecting intimate images.
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Elon Musk’s X receives a fine in Canada for not removing a non-consensual intimate image of a woman