Elon Musk's social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has reportedly agreed to comply with Indian laws following intense pressure from the country's government. The action stems from concerns over the platform's AI chatbot, Grok, being used to generate explicit and obscene AI-altered images of women, which drew criticism from Indian authorities and global leaders.
The Indian government issued a 72-hour ultimatum to X, demanding immediate changes to Grok and submission of an action-taken report detailing steps to prevent the hosting, generation, and dissemination of obscene content. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) warned that failure could result in the loss of "safe harbor" protections under Section 79 of the IT Act.
According to a senior MeitY official, X has now accepted its mistake and promised to work within Indian law. The platform has blocked over 3,500 pieces of content and deleted more than 600 accounts related to the issue. "Going forward, X will not allow obscene imagery," the official stated.
The compliance came after a tense back-and-forth. Initially, X's responses were deemed unsatisfactory by Indian authorities, as the company listed its policies instead of concrete actions taken. MeitY then sent another notice demanding specific information, threatening legal action. While X requested a two-day extension to respond, MeitY granted only 24 hours.
India is not alone in its scrutiny. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged the platform to address the "menace," and Indonesia has temporarily suspended Grok within its borders due to the same concerns, pushing X to find a fix for its chatbot.
