Let’s have a chat about our ACCC complaint against X Corp.
Today, HaveAChat.AI formally reported X Corp to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission following the permanent suspension of our @HaveAChatAI account.
X suspended the account after its automated systems alleged “inauthentic behaviours”. I repeatedly asked X to identify exactly what we had done and requested a genuine human review. In one response, X stated that a violation had occurred “specifically:” but failed to identify any specific violation. I was then directed to complete on-screen instructions that did not exist. The account remains permanently suspended.
There is also considerable irony in the timing. HaveAChat.AI was suspended from X just prior to Elon Musk’s Tesla launching its driverless Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, while I was launching Driving About and talking about a very different direction for Australia.
Driving About is about educating Australians through the transition to electric vehicles, using opportunities such as ride share to create immediate cash flow, helping people build their own businesses and developing new services around transport. That includes opportunities I believe will become increasingly important as Australia’s population ages, particularly services that help people remain independent and connected. Driverless Robotaxis represent a fundamentally different model because their purpose is to provide passenger transport without a human driver.
I am not suggesting that Elon Musk, Tesla or Robotaxi caused the suspension. I have no evidence establishing that. But the timing is relevant to the story, particularly when X still refuses to identify what HaveAChat.AI supposedly did to warrant a permanent suspension.
HaveAChat.AI was also a paying X Premium customer. After suspending the account, X subsequently attempted to obtain further payment for the Premium service.
This goes beyond one social media account. HaveAChat.AI is an Australian media and technology company being built around media, education, Australian manufacturing and sovereign AI. Australians should be able to participate in legitimate public debate, question powerful technology companies and support government policy without being permanently suspended by an automated system that refuses to explain what they supposedly did wrong.
I have publicly supported Communications Minister Anika Wells and the Australian Government’s push for stronger regulation and accountability of global technology and social media platforms. I cannot establish whether that public activity played any role in X’s decision because X has never explained what triggered the suspension. That lack of transparency is part of the concern.
The ACCC has now confirmed receipt of our report. We have placed the evidence before Australia’s competition and consumer regulator and asked it to consider X Corp’s conduct, automated review processes and Premium billing practices, including whether these practices may affect other Australian consumers, publishers and businesses.
This is exactly the kind of conversation HaveAChat.AI was built to have. We will report what happens openly, publish the evidence and give everyone involved the opportunity to respond. If X provides an explanation, we will report it. If X corrects its decision, we will report that too.
The question to X Corp remains very simple: what did HaveAChat.AI actually do wrong?
If X can substantiate its allegation, identify the conduct, identify the rule and provide a genuine human review. If it cannot, reinstate the HaveAChat.AI account.
Paul Nelson | Founder | HaveAChat.AI
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