Elon Musk might be the richest man in the world, but still, that doesn't mean he can afford to throw money around willy-nilly. Even though the tech billionaire might be far and away the world's richest thanks to a healthy $414.6 billion net worth, a mounting pile of potential legal cases and potential loss of government contracts after his spectacular falling out with President Donald Trump means he needs to watch his pennies.
Now, Elon Musk's October 2022 purchase of Twitter could become even more of an albatross around his neck. Having splashed $44 billion on the sale and even more rebranding it as X, it's said that Musk has slashed billions from Twitter's value.
He's been moving things around and tried to downplay the sensationalist headlines by selling X to xAI for a cool $45 billion and going hard on the company's new AI innovations with the likes of AI companions.
When not dealing with dramas where his Grok chatbot seemed to praise Hitler, Musk could soon have another headache thanks to the United Kingdom's new rulings on internet safety.
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Regulator Ofcom has vowed to come down hard on sites and social media platforms that don't enforce the new restrictions that mean you have to prove you're over the age of 18 to access 'adult' materials.
Big names like Pornhub have already agreed to comply after its parent company kicked off in France, but when it comes to X, things could be a little trickier.
Ofcorm has demanded 'highly effective' age checks, which have already been put in place on dating apps like Grindr. It's a little trickier for X, but if Musk doesn't make these changes before July 25, he could be facing millions in fines.
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Failing to comply could result in fines of £18 million ($24.3 million) or 10% of a site's revenue. Considering X was said to have made $2.5 billion in revenue in 2025, having to shell out $250 million isn't exactly pocket change...even for the world's richest man.
As noted by The Telegraph, X's 13-plus age limit isn't enough due to the sheer amount of pornography that's infiltrated the platform.
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Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza conducted research that reported 41% of young people aged 16 to 21 have seen pornography on X. This is compared to 37% on dedicated adult sites. With 33% of that same bracket on Instagram, 32% on Snapchat, and 30% on search engines, X is a point of contention.
Sources suggest that Musk can either ban all under 18s from X, introduce age checks for areas that might contain adult material, or remove porn altogether. The latter seems like an unlikely option, although one government source reiterated: "If X or any other company that hosts pornography has not introduced highly effective age assurance by this Friday deadline, Ofcom has been clear that they will face enforcement action."
The UK regulator maintains that it should be easy to instigate age verification software, but with just days to confirm the changes, the clock is ticking for Mr. Musk.