Obscene images row: ‘X’ admits ‘mistake’; thousands of posts, over 600 accounts taken down | India News

NEW DELHI: Elon Musk-owned X social media platform admitted its mistake and stated it would comply with Indian law as it blocked 3,500 pieces of content and deleted over 600 accounts linked to obscene imageries generated using the platform's AI tool, Grok."The social media platform 'X' has admitted its mistake and stated that it will comply with Indian law. Around 3,500 pieces of content were blocked, and over 600 accounts were deleted. Going forward, X will not allow obscene imagery," government sources told news agency ANI.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had raised concerns over obscene and harmful content allegedly generated by Elon Musk’s chatbot Grok. The ministry sent a letter to X (formerly Twitter), the social media website owned by Elon Musk, pointing out failures in moderating AI-generated content on its platform. The ministry highlighted concerns that the Grok and other services of xAI have been used to generate and distribute obscene or non-consensual images, particularly targeting the dignity and privacy of women. Through the letter, the government has also sought a report on the actions taken by the company, and the immediate removal of illegal materials.

ALSO READ | AI tool to 'undress women': Grok under fire for generating non-consensual sexualised images; Musk pokes funNow, X has submitted a reply to the ministry, however, the officials described it as ‘not adequate’, saying the response by the social media platform lacked specific actions taken and preventive steps implemented.Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi had written to IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging the government to urgently step in over what she described as a disturbing rise in the misuse of AI tools to sexualise women on social media, particularly on X.In her letter, Priyanka Chaturvedi called for strict “guardrails” on AI chatbots such as Grok, saying social media platforms must be made “a safe space for women”. She also underlined the need for better education of men from an early age to prevent such behaviour.“Have sought urgent attention and intervention of the IT Minister to take the issue of increasing incidents of AI apps being prompted to sexualise and undress women by unauthorised use of their images on social media,” Chaturvedi said in a post on X.In the letter shared publicly, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader flagged what she called an emerging trend on X, where men operating fake accounts allegedly upload photos of women and use AI prompts to minimise their clothing or sexualise them.“It is not just limited to sharing photos through fake accounts but are also targeting women who post their own photos,” she wrote.Calling the practice an “unacceptable and gross misuse of an AI function,” Chaturvedi also criticised Grok for “enabling this behaviour by adhering to such requests”.She described such acts as a “breach of women's right to privacy” and termed them “criminal”, adding that similar instances were “going absolutely unchecked” across other platforms as well.ALSO READ | Elon Musk's Grok AI restricts image editing features to paid X users after Deepfakes go viral across the world