REMOVE Sexually explicit content: Centre gives 72-hour ultimatum to Elon Musk’s company, says generated through AI chatbot Grok

Centre’s 72-hour ultimatum to X: Taking a stringent action against Elon Musk’s microblogging site X, the central government on Friday issued a 72-hour ultimatum, instructing it to remove sexually explicit content that was generated using X’s AI chatbot Grok. The government also directed the microblogging site to submit an action taken report (ATR) to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The action came after Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Gandhi wrote a letter to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, highlighting the easy creation of women’s obscene pictures on Grok.

What Did IT Ministry Say?

According to the notice, the IT Ministry stated that it has found out major lapses in the microblogging site’s statutory due diligence obligations, flagging massive misuse of Grok to generate and share explicit content.

The Ministry has instructed X to conduct a brief review of its AI bot “technical, procedural and governance-level” frameworks in order to prevent the creation of unlawful content.

It has also instructed X to strictly take strong deterrent action such as 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.

MeitY Warns X of Losing Safe Harbour Protection

The IT Ministry has also issued a stringent warning to X that failure to comply could result in the loss its safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act.

According to the notice, several users have been misusing Grok’s AI capabilities to create fake images and videos using prompts and image manipulation. These users are targeting women who post their own photos online. The ministry stated that it also violates dignity and privacy.

The Centre’s took the decision after Chaturvedi, in her letter, stated fake accounts were being used to upload women’s morphed photos.

“This is unacceptable and a gross misuse of an AI function. Grok is enabling this behaviour by adhering to such requests,” she said.