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NEW DELHI: A week after the Centre warned of legal consequences, microblogging platform X has acknowledged lapses in content moderation linked to its AI chatbot Grok, taking down about 3,500 pieces of content and deleting over 600 accounts, govt sources said on Sunday. The platform has assured authorities that it will comply with Indian laws and will not allow obscene imagery going forward. The action follows a Jan 2 directive from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), which pulled up X over the circulation of vulgar, obscene and unlawful content generated through Grok, including non-consensual sexualised images of women. The ministry had asked X to submit a detailed action taken report within 72 hours, spelling out technical and organisational safeguards, enforcement steps and oversight mechanisms to prevent recurrence.
X is said to have accepted mistakes, pledged rectificationAccording to sources, X has now accepted its mistake and conveyed that corrective measures have been initiated. Besides blocking content and deleting accounts, the platform has assured stricter enforcement of its policies to prevent misuse of AI-generated imagery. Earlier, X’s initial response to the notice, though lengthy, was seen by govt as falling short of expectations, as it did not clearly spell out takedown specifics or future prevention measures. This prompted MeitY to seek additional details, while warning that failure to observe due diligence obligations could result in loss of safe harbour protection under Section 79 of IT Act, apart from action under other applicable laws, including BNS. In its notice, the ministry said Grok was being misused by users to create or manipulate images through prompts and synthetic outputs, targeting women in a derogatory and vulgar manner. It stressed such activity reflected serious gaps in platform-level safeguards and enforcement. X has maintained publicly that it takes action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, by removing such content, suspending accounts and cooperating with law enforcement. “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will face the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content,” the platform had said earlier. The controversy has not been limited to India. Regulators in UK and EU have also raised concerns over AI-generated “digital undressing” images linked to Grok. UK communications regulator Ofcom has sought clarification from X and xAI on steps taken to meet legal obligations, while European Commission has reportedly asked the platform to preserve documents related to the chatbot. With scrutiny mounting globally, govt sources said India will continue to closely monitor compliance by X to ensure that online safety norms and statutory obligations are strictly followed.
