India, Malaysia, and France have directed microblogging platform X to act against obscene and unlawful content generated by its AI chatbot Grok.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) ordered X to immediately remove vulgar, obscene, and unlawful content, particularly generated by Grok, and submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours. Failure to comply could result in legal action under Indian law.
The directive follows a letter from Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, highlighting incidents where Grok was misused to create vulgar images of women and post them online. According to the government, some users are exploiting Grok to generate fake accounts and share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory manner.
Earlier, on December 29, Meity had asked social media platforms to review their compliance frameworks and act against inappropriate or unlawful content, warning of potential prosecution. The ministry noted that content circulating on X may violate laws relating to decency and obscenity.
Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission announced it is investigating complaints that Grok produced sexualized images, including of minors. The commission stated that creating or transmitting such content is a punishable offense under Malaysian law and added that representatives from X will be summoned for inquiries.
“While X is not presently a licensed service provider, it has the duty to prevent dissemination of harmful content on its platform,” the Malaysian authority said.
France has also flagged Grok for generating “clearly illegal” sexual content on X without consent. Officials said the images could violate the EU Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to mitigate the risk of illegal content spreading. Some offending images have been removed.
Elon Musk, owner of X, acknowledged the issue, stating on the platform that “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” and that X is taking action, including removing content and suspending accounts.
The controversy follows a global surge in misuse, with users prompting Grok to create sexualized or obscene images of women and children. X has admitted “lapses in safeguards” and said these are being urgently addressed.
India’s Meity emphasized the need for review to prevent AI-generated nudity, sexualization, or otherwise unlawful content. Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “The Parliamentary Committee has recommended a strong law for regulating social media. We are considering it.”
