MeitY issues notice to X over misuse of Grok AI; seeks action on obscene content

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on January 2 issued a formal notice to X Corp’s India compliance head, raising serious concerns over the misuse of the platform’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, to generate and circulate obscene and sexually explicit content. The government has warned that continued non-compliance could invite stringent action under multiple Indian laws, including the Information Technology Act and related rules.

In its letter dated January 2, the ministry cited reports indicating that women were being targeted on the platform through manipulated AI prompts, fake accounts and the circulation of synthetic images. MeitY said such incidents point to significant gaps in X’s platform safeguards, content moderation practices and enforcement mechanisms, and pose grave risks to women’s dignity, privacy and digital safety.

The notice flags potential violations of statutory due diligence obligations prescribed under the IT Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules. According to the ministry, the misuse of AI systems to create and disseminate obscene or sexually explicit material could attract penal consequences under cyber, criminal and child protection laws.

The action against Elon Musk-owned X comes days after MeitY issued a broader advisory to all intermediaries, urging stricter compliance with content moderation requirements to curb the spread of obscene, indecent and unlawful content online. The government has recently stepped up scrutiny of social media platforms amid growing concerns over the misuse of generative AI tools.

In a separate communication issued on Friday, MeitY directed X to immediately review the technical architecture and governance framework of Grok, remove all unlawful content from the platform, and initiate action against offending users. The platform has also been asked to submit an Action Taken Report to the ministry within 72 hours.

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw warned that failure to comply with statutory obligations could result in the withdrawal of legal safe harbour protections available to intermediaries under the IT Act, exposing platforms to direct legal liability.

“Social media should be responsible for the content they publish. Intervention is required,” Vaishnaw said on Friday on the sidelines of a MeitY event. He added that a Parliamentary Standing Committee has already recommended the introduction of a stringent legal framework to fix accountability on social media platforms for the content hosted and circulated by them.

Earlier this week, the government cautioned online platforms—particularly social media companies—of legal consequences if they fail to act against obscene, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic and other forms of unlawful content.

The issue has also drawn political attention. Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi has written to the IT minister seeking urgent government intervention over increasing instances of AI applications being misused to create vulgar and morphed images of women and circulate them on social media platforms.

Separately, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has recommended stronger accountability mechanisms for social media and intermediary platforms, particularly in relation to the spread of fake content and misinformation.

With generative AI tools becoming more accessible and powerful, the government’s latest action underscores its intent to tighten regulatory oversight and hold platforms accountable for preventing technology-driven abuse and ensuring user safety in India’s digital ecosystem.