Guwahati: Social media platform X on Sunday said it will remove illegal content, permanently suspend accounts involved in uploading such material and cooperate with local governments and law enforcement, reiterating its zero-tolerance stance on unlawful activity, including content generated using its AI tool, Grok.
In a statement issued by X’s Global Government Affairs account, the Elon Musk-owned platform said users who prompt or use Grok to create illegal content will face the same action as those who upload such material directly.
“Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” the platform said, echoing comments earlier made by Musk in response to concerns over inappropriate images.
X said it takes action against illegal content on the platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing such posts, permanently suspending accounts and working with authorities as required.
The Global Government Affairs handle also shared a link to X’s content rules, which permit consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behaviour, provided it is properly labelled and not prominently displayed.
The statement comes amid scrutiny from the Indian government, which has flagged the presence of vulgar, obscene and other unlawful content on X in violation of domestic laws.
On January 2, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) directed X to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, particularly material generated using the Grok AI application, warning of legal action for non-compliance. The ministry also instructed the platform to take action against offending content, users and accounts, and to submit a detailed action taken report within 72 hours of the order.
In its directive, Meity said it has received repeated inputs, including through public discourse and representations from parliamentary stakeholders, that certain categories of content circulating on X may not comply with laws relating to decency and obscenity.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking urgent intervention over alleged misuse of the Grok AI tool to create and circulate vulgar images of women on social media.
The ministry noted that the Grok AI service developed by X is being misused by some users through fake accounts to generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory and indecent manner.
Separately, on December 29, Meity issued an advisory to social media platforms asking them to review their compliance frameworks and act promptly against obscene, vulgar, inappropriate and unlawful content, cautioning that failure to do so could invite prosecution under existing laws.