Elon Musk-led social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is making headlines in India and globally over the hosting and generation of obscene and nude content through its AI-based services, including Grok and other xAI tools.
The controversy began after a late December 2025 update to Grok on the X platform, which introduced a feature allowing users to modify existing images. Many users misused this feature to “nudify” or sexualise photos of real people—both celebrities and private individuals—often without their consent. Users uploaded normal photos of women and girls and used prompts such as “remove clothes” or “put her in a transparent bikini.” In several cases, Grok complied, creating realistic and sexually explicit deepfake images.
Following this, the Indian government issued a strict advisory to X, warning it to comply with the Information Technology Act, 2000. The government cautioned that failure to do so could result in the loss of legal protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, making the platform liable for action under the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Regulators in Brazil, Malaysia, and Australia have also launched inquiries or called for the suspension of Grok.
The growing number of such incidents has triggered strong reactions from the government and lawmakers. Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking urgent action.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued an advisory to X’s chief compliance officer, directing the platform to meet its statutory due diligence obligations under the IT Act, 2000. The ministry warned that non-compliance could lead to the loss of intermediary protection, exposing X to legal action under Indian law.
MeitY also asked X to immediately conduct a detailed technical and governance-level review of Grok, including its prompt-processing systems, to ensure the AI does not generate or promote sexually explicit or objectionable content.
In a strongly worded letter, the ministry said it had observed that Grok was being misused—often through fake accounts—to generate, publish, and share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory and vulgar manner. It added that the misuse also targets women who upload their own images, which are then altered using AI prompts and synthetic outputs.
The ministry further referred to an advisory issued on 12 December 2025, which directed all intermediaries to review their compliance frameworks, content moderation systems, and user enforcement mechanisms, and to ensure strict adherence to the IT Act and IT Rules, 2021.
Elon Musk has largely downplayed the issue, comparing the AI tool to a pen and arguing that responsibility lies with the user. He said, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
However, xAI, Musk’s AI company, has acknowledged “lapses in safeguards” and promised to introduce stricter filters to prevent misuse.
After the Indian government issued a stern notice on January 2, 2026, X submitted an Action Taken Report (ATR) on January 7. While X claims it is complying with Indian law, the government has expressed dissatisfaction with its response.
X said that it is willing to permanently disable accounts that prompt Grok to create inappropriate or non-consensual sexual images. The platform highlighted its policies against Non-Consensual Sexual Imagery (NCSI) and Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), and said it has already blocked several pieces of content flagged by the government.
X also informed MeitY that it is developing stricter image-generation filters and internal oversight mechanisms to reduce misuse. To build trust, the company offered to provide a technical demonstration explaining how Grok’s safety features and prompt-processing systems work.
However, the government remains concerned that X’s approach focuses on punishing users after harmful content is created, rather than preventing Grok from generating such content in the first place. There is also concern that xAI, which develops Grok as a separate entity, has not committed to the specific systemic changes demanded by the ministry