New Delhi: In a 72-hour ultimatum, the Central government directed social media platform X to remove sexually explicit content generated through its AI chatbot Grok and submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
MeitY pointed out in a strongly-worded notice that it has observed serious lapses in statutory due diligence obligations by X Corp under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Expressing serious concern over reports that Grok is being misused to create and share obscene, indecent, and sexually explicit images and videos targeting women and children, the ministry asked X to conduct a comprehensive review of the AI chatbot’s “technical, procedural and governance-level” frameworks to prevent generation of unlawful content.
MeitY further directed X to strictly enforce its terms of service and AI usage policies, including taking strong deterrent action such as suspension or termination of accounts found misusing the tool.
“All content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws must be removed or disabled without delay, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without vitiating evidence in any manner,” the ministry said.
Failure to comply with rules within specified time could result in the loss of X’s safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, along with penal action under multiple laws, including Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), Indecent Representation of Women Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the government warned.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urging immediate action against a disturbing trend on X. Chaturvedi stated that fake accounts were being used to upload women’s photos and generate prompts through Grok to minimise clothing and sexualise them.
“This is unacceptable and a gross misuse of an AI function. Grok is enabling this behaviour by adhering to such requests,” Chaturvedi said, calling for stronger safeguards to make digital platforms safer for women.
