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New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has intensified its scrutiny on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X on the purported creation and distribution of obscene and harmful material using its AI chatbot, Grok. The ministry had previously dispatched a notice to X indicating that the ministry was seriously concerned with the inability to moderate AI-generated content, particularly the content that infringes on the dignity, privacy, and consent of women.
While X has since provided a response to the government, the officials have dubbed it as inadequate. Based on reports, the response was vague on tangible measures implemented and fails to provide specific prevention or technical protection measures. The government have warned that generic policy assurances will not be enough, but they have required written evidence of adherence to the Indian IT laws.
According to PTI, MeitY has requested X to provide plenty of evidence on measures undertaken to ensure that there is no creation of harmful AI outputs. The ministry has also tried to find technical data on content moderation systems, a system of escalation and internal control measures. Moreover, X has been instructed to provide future protections to make sure Grok and other services are within the Indian IT regulations and content standards.
Authorities emphasised that the government wants concrete and verifiable actions instead of general expressions of intention. The platform has been requested to explain how it intends to address the misuse of AI tools and hold it accountable.
The government had previously given X an additional period until Wednesday, 5 pm, to provide a full Action Taken Report (ATR). This was after a stern warning about the creation of indecent and sexually explicit materials with the help of AI applications such as Grok. The ATR has to elaborate on the technical and organisational protective measures, the position of the Chief Compliance Officer, the consequences of breaches on the violators, and the procedures of meeting the Chinese law required for reporting.
MeitY has given a warning that lack of due diligence may lead to legal prosecutions, and intermediary protections may be lost.
Concerning the problem of legal immunity, the government sources explained that the safeguarding of safe harbour as provided in Section 79 of the IT Act is provided to intermediaries like X and not specifically applied to AI applications like Grok. They also provided that such protection is conditional and could be revoked in the event of platforms, in response to notices, failing to fulfil the duties of due diligence when a case is taken to court.
The ministry has once again stated that compliance with the IT Act and the related rules is obligatory, and any failure might subject X to the action in accordance with the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
In its order, MeitY claimed that Grok AI was reportedly being abused to fabricate bogus accounts that produce and distribute obscene images and videos of women in a degrading fashion. The ministry further stated that fake profiles were not the only ones that are being misused but that it also applies to targeting women sharing their own data and content through AI prompts, image manipulation, and synthetic outputs.
The government termed this as a severe failure in platform-level protection and appalling misuse of artificial intelligence against the existing laws.
In addition to India, X is experiencing regulatory control overseas. The UK communications regulator Ofcom recently announced that it was conscious of a Grok feature that produces images of individuals in undressed state and sexualised images of children. Ofcom has approached X and xAI to determine how much they are complying with user protection legislation and may be looking to see whether a formal investigation is necessary.
X has taken the concerns of the Indian authorities into account. Nevertheless, the company is yet to publicly act on the recent requirement of comprehensive compliance.
