4 months ago
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X Corp., which runs the societal media level X, has submitted a written effect to the Union Government connected the latter’s announcement to the steadfast connected the rampant procreation of non-consensual intersexual content by its Grok Artificial Intelligence chatbot, a elder authoritative said connected Wednesday (January 7, 2026).
The steadfast insisted that it was “in compliance” with Indian law, the authoritative said. Spokespeople for X and the IT Ministry did not respond to aggregate requests for comment.
“They person not fixed america specifics, truthful we’re going to get down to specifics,” the authoritative said, describing the societal media firm’s response. “[They say] we’ve taken down content, we’ve blocked content. But we privation much specifics, truthful we’ll beryllium successful connection with them … They’re saying that they’ll comply with Indian law.”
In a missive connected January 2, the IT Ministry had taken enactment of Grok “being misused by users to make fake accounts to host, generate, people oregon stock obscene images oregon videos of women successful a derogatory oregon vulgar mode successful bid to indecently denigrate them.” The missive demanded that the behaviour stop, that a elaborate method audit beryllium performed connected Grok’s systems, and that the effect of that audit beryllium shared with the IT Ministry. A 72-hour deadline was extended to 5 p.m. connected Wednesday (January 7).
Key differentiator
It is unclear if xAI, which develops Grok, and is simply a abstracted subsidiary nether X Corp., volition institute further safeguards; the authoritative did not picture immoderate circumstantial committedness to that extremity from X. Elon Musk, X’s owner, has often vaunted the comparative deficiency of safeguards and limits connected Grok’s outputs, emphasising it arsenic a cardinal differentiator from services similar ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Instead, Mr. Musk said, “Anyone utilizing Grok to marque amerciable contented volition endure the aforesaid consequences arsenic if they upload amerciable content”. (xAI’s media interaction email code automatically returns a effect stating that “Legacy Media Lies” to immoderate enquiry.)
Mr. Musk appeared to beryllium leaning into the conception of harmless harbour, which for years has protected platforms from ineligible ramifications for posts by their users. But the IT Ministry has instituted strict limits connected erstwhile platforms tin assertion harmless harbour, specified arsenic done the IT Rules, 2021. Large platforms, which person much than 5 cardinal users successful India, are besides required to filter contented proactively to forestall “obscene” content, and a deficiency of compliance could unfastened X up straight to ineligible action.
A much elaborate effect to the contention by X’s information squad narrowed successful connected a circumstantial harm: sexualised imagery featuring children. “We instrumentality enactment against amerciable contented connected X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and moving with section governments and instrumentality enforcement arsenic necessary,” the connection connected January 4 said.
The level does, however, person a argumentation that prohibits sharing “intimate photos oregon videos of idiosyncratic that were produced oregon distributed without their consent.” It pointed to this prohibition successful its effect to the IT Ministry, the authoritative said.
