Elon Musk’s social media network X has been fined A$650,000 after admitting it failed to provide information about how it was tackling online child abuse material.

The federal court penalty ends a legal battle that lasted more than three years, after the eSafety commissioner first issued the notice to the US-based company in 2023.

X had argued that it did not have to comply with the request because it had come before Twitter, as it was then known, merged with X Corp and that Twitter was no longer a company.

However, it admitted wrongdoing in court on Thursday and has been ordered to pay a A$650,000 fine.

Justice Michael Wheelahan raised the initial fine of A$610,00 and also ordered the US company to pay A$100,000 towards the regulator’s legal costs.

“A penalty near the maximum is appropriate in the case of the respondent, which is a substantial corporation so that it operates as a real deterrent and is not simply a cost of doing business,” Wheelahan said.

Australia’s e-regulator has previously clashed with X, including over its world-leading ban on social media for under-16s and its refusal to remove videos of a stabbing that took place in a Sydney church.

The request for information on how the social media platform was tackling the spread of child sexual abuse content was first issued to Twitter in February 2023 before it merged with X a month later.

Last year, the court upheld an earlier ruling that X was required to respond to the transparency notice and on Thursday the parties agreed to the penalty, which must be paid within 45 days.