 "Musk warns of legal action over 'inappropriate' content created using Grok")
Microblogging platform X owner Elon Musk on Saturday said that individuals using the platform’s artificial intelligence service Grok to generate illegal content will face the same consequences as those who upload such material directly. His statement came amid growing scrutiny from the Indian government over the misuse of AI-generated content on social media.
“Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” Musk said on X, responding to a post referring to the creation of “inappropriate images”.
The post stated, “Some people are saying Grok is creating inappropriate images. But that’s like blaming a pen for writing something bad. A pen doesn’t decide what gets written. The person holding it does. Grok works the same way. What you get depends a lot on what you put in. Think about it!.”
Government directs immediate removal of unlawful content
Musk’s remarks followed a directive from the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity), which on Friday instructed X to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content on the platform, particularly material generated using the AI app Grok, or face action under the law.
The ministry has also directed the US-based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours from the date of the order.
Concerns raised over decency and obscenity
According to the government order, Meity has received information from time to time, including through public discourse and representations from various parliamentary stakeholders, that certain categories of content circulating on X may not be in compliance with applicable laws relating to decency and obscenity.
The order stated that the “Grok AI” service developed by X is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner, with the intent to indecently denigrate them.
The government’s action followed a letter from Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi to Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking urgent intervention over increasing instances of the AI app Grok being misused to create vulgar images of women and circulate them on social media.
Quick Reads
View AllEarlier, on December 29, Meity had issued an advisory asking social media platforms to immediately review their compliance frameworks and act against obscene and unlawful content, warning that failure to do so could lead to prosecution under the law of the land. The advisory was issued after the ministry observed that platforms were not acting strictly against obscene, vulgar, inappropriate and unlawful content.
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