India orders Musk’s X to fix Grok over ‘obscene’ AI content | TechCrunch

India has ordered Elon Musk’s

On Friday, India’s IT ministry issued the order directing Musk’s The ministry also gave the social media platform 72 hours to submit an action report detailing the steps it has taken to prevent hosting or distributing content deemed “obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, pedophilic or otherwise prohibited by law.”

The order, reviewed by TechCrunch, warned that failure to comply could jeopardize X’s “safe harbor” protection – legal immunity from liability for user-generated content under Indian law.

India’s move follows concerns raised by users who shared examples in which Grok was asked to alter images of individuals – especially women – to appear as if they were wearing bikinis. formal complaint from Indian parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi. In addition, recent reports noted cases where the AI ​​chatbot generated sexualized images involving minorsa problem recognized earlier on Friday was caused by shortcomings in safety measures. Those images were later deleted.

However, images generated using Grok that made it appear as if women were wearing bikinis through AI modifications remained accessible on X at the time of publication, TechCrunch found.

The latest order comes days after India’s IT ministry on Monday issued a broader advisory, also reviewed by TechCrunch, to social media platforms, reminding them that compliance with local laws regarding obscene and sexually explicit content is a prerequisite for maintaining legal immunity from liability for user-generated material. The consultancy urged companies to strengthen internal security measures, warning that failure to do so could invite legal action under India’s IT and criminal law.

“It is reiterated that failure to comply with the above requirements should be taken seriously and may lead to strict legal consequences against your platform, the responsible officials and the users on the platform who violate the law, without any further notice,” the order warned.

The Indian government said non-compliance could lead to action against X under Indian IT laws and criminal statutes.

India, one of the world’s largest digital markets, has emerged as a critical test case for how far governments are willing to go in holding platforms accountable for AI-generated content. Any tightening of enforcement in the country could have ripple effects for global tech companies operating in multiple jurisdictions.

The order comes as Musk’s At the same time, Grok is increasingly being used by X users for real-time fact-checking and commentary on news events, making its results more visible – and politically sensitive – than those of standalone AI tools.

X and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Indian government’s order.