In British Columbia, Elon Musk's X platform was slapped with a $100K penalty as a result of a landmark case involving improperly shared intimate images.

In a landmark decision, the social media giant X has been penalised $100,000 for failing to remove an intimate image of a transgender woman from its platform. The penalty was issued under British Columbia's (B.C.) Intimate Images Protection Act (IIPA), a law designed to help remove non-consensual images online.

The case involved a doctored image, specifically one that altered the woman's head onto a masculine body. The victim applied for an administrative penalty through the tribunal, which X formally contested on July 16.

The tribunal gave X the maximum penalty available under the law. The vice-chair, Regehr, presumes the IIPA is constitutional and has the authority to make a protection order with global effect.

The platform geofenced the offending image instead of removing it, which was found not to satisfy the terms of the order. Refusing to remove the image, even temporarily as the dispute was being decided, caused the victim unnecessary distress, according to Regehr.

X's stance is considered by Regehr as an "attack on the constitutionality" of the IIPA. The company argues that B.C.'s legislature's authority, and by extension the CRT's authority, ends at B.C.'s borders. However, Regehr presumes the IIPA has the power to issue protection orders with global effect.

The victim stated that geofencing did not help as the content could be accessed using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The activist who shared the image was ordered to pay the victim $7,500.

The X platform is questioning the authority of the B.C. province in this matter. The person or institution filing the appeal against the decision of the British Columbia Civil Appeal Court in the case where X was fined $100,000 for not removing an intimate image of a transgender B.C. woman has not been publicly specified.

Under B.C.’s IIPA, penalties are paid to the provincial government, not victims themselves. The decision notes X could face another penalty of up to $100,000 if it refuses to pay. Given B.C. law allows for penalties of up to $5,000 per day in intimate image cases, X is exposed to the $100,000 maximum penalty.

The victim is considering further legal action against X. A previous tribunal decision described the image as "relatively benign" but harmful due to its sharing context. It wouldn't be "appropriate or fair" to penalise X after July 16, when its non-compliance was in dispute, leaving 92 days in which a penalty could apply.

The tribunal-a quasi-judicial branch of B.C.'s justice system-has no authority to consider constitutional arguments, according to Regehr. This means that any challenges to the IIPA's constitutionality will need to be addressed in a separate forum.