New Delhi, Jan 11 

Microblogging platform X has admitted to lapses in content moderation and removed around 3,500 posts, besides deleting more than 600 accounts, after the IT Ministry raised concerns over obscene content linked to Elon Musk-backed AI chatbot Grok, government sources said on Sunday.

The platform has assured the authorities that it will comply with Indian laws.

The move comes amid mounting global pressure on Grok, as governments step up scrutiny of the generative AI tool over content moderation failures, data safety concerns and the circulation of non-consensual sexually explicit images on X in recent days.

According to government sources, X accepted its mistake and assured compliance with Indian regulations. As part of corrective measures, it blocked about 3,500 pieces of content and deleted over 600 accounts, while also committing to prevent the generation and circulation of obscene imagery going forward.

Last Sunday, X’s ‘Safety’ handle said the platform takes action against illegal content, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing such content, permanently suspending accounts and cooperating with local governments and law enforcement agencies when required.

“Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will face the same consequences as those who upload illegal content,” X had said earlier, echoing the stance taken by Elon Musk on unlawful material.

X has been facing a global backlash over instances of ‘digital undressing’ of images using prompts on the xAI chatbot Grok. Governments in Europe and Asia have warned the platform of consequences if it fails to adhere to online safety norms, while public calls for action against both X and Grok have intensified.

On January 2, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology pulled up X and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content generated by Grok, warning of action under the law in case of non-compliance.

The ministry also asked the US-based social media company to submit a detailed action taken report within 72 hours, outlining the technical and organisational safeguards adopted or proposed in relation to Grok, the oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer, action taken against offending content and accounts, and mechanisms to ensure compliance with mandatory reporting requirements under Indian law.

In its notice, the ministry noted that Grok AI, developed by X and integrated into the platform, was being misused by users to create fake accounts to generate, host or circulate obscene images and videos of women in a derogatory manner.

“Importantly, this misuse is not limited to fake accounts but also targets women who host or publish their own images or videos, through prompts, image manipulation and synthetic outputs,” the ministry said. It added that such conduct reflected a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms and amounted to gross misuse of artificial intelligence in violation of existing laws.

The government made it clear that compliance with the IT Act and its rules is mandatory and that the statutory exemptions available under Section 79 of the IT Act, which grant intermediaries safe harbour from liability, are conditional upon strict adherence to due diligence obligations.

It warned that failure to meet these obligations would result in the loss of safe harbour protection and could attract action under the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The ministry also directed X to strictly enforce its user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including imposing strong deterrent measures such as suspension or termination of accounts found to be in violation.

Further, X was asked to remove or disable access “without delay” to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of Indian laws, in compliance with timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, while preserving evidence.

Although X’s initial response to the notice was detailed, the government viewed it as largely reiterating its commitment to Indian laws and guidelines, without providing specific details on takedowns or concrete steps taken to address the Grok-related issue.

The response was seen as falling short of expectations, prompting the government to toughen its stance and seek further clarification on the action taken and preventive measures planned.

Sources said X has now acknowledged the shortcomings and assured the government of full compliance with Indian laws and regulations.

Apart from India, regulators in the UK and the European Union have also mounted pressure on X over the Grok deepfake image issue. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the content as “disgusting”, while the European Commission has reportedly asked X to preserve documents related to Grok for an extended period.

The UK communications regulator Ofcom said it was aware of serious concerns regarding a Grok feature that produces undressed images of individuals and sexualised images of children.

“We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK,” Ofcom said, adding that it would conduct a swift assessment to determine whether further investigation was warranted.

Meanwhile, three Democratic US senators have written to Apple and Google, urging them to suspend X and Grok from their app stores for alleged violations of their terms of service.