Explicit image row: Meity asks X to review Grok, submit report in 72 hours

X may lose safe harbour if IT ministry not satisfied with the response, say officials

The government has asked Elon Musk-led social media platform X to carry out a comprehensive “technical, procedural and governance-level” review of its artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot, Grok, and submit a detailed action-taken report to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) within 72 hours. 

The cyber law division of Meity said in a letter that X must also enforce its terms of service and AI-usage restrictions, and take “strong deterrent measures”, including suspending, terminating or taking other action against accounts using Grok to create sexually explicit images of women and children. 

The ministry also asked X to “remove or disable access, without delay, to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, without vitiating the evidence in any manner”. 

 

If X fails to comply with these directions, appropriate action will be taken against the platform, including “the loss of the exemption from liability under Section 79 of the IT Act, and consequential action as provided (for) under any law including the IT Act and the BNS (Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita)”, the ministry said. 

An email sent to X seeking its response did not elicit a reply by the time of going to press. 

Earlier in the day, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said social media platforms needed to take responsibility for the content on their platforms. “Today, social media is such a big influence in our society. They must take responsibility for content. There should be intervention on the content on these platforms.” 

Users in India have been able to use Grok to create sexually explicit images of women and children with simple prompts. Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday wrote to Vaishnaw and sought his intervention in the Grok image-generation issue.

Chaturvedi wrote in her letter that the government should take this up with X to ensure that safeguards were built into AI-enabled apps, making the platforms a safe space for women. 

Earlier, on Monday, Meity issued a directive to all social media companies to take down obscene content on their platforms or face strict action. In its advisory, its third in 2025 reminding platforms of their duty to comply with the IT Rules and the IT Act, the ministry said intermediaries should apply greater “rigour” in monitoring such vulgar and obscene content. 

It said there was a need for greater consistency and rigour in the observance of due-diligence obligations by intermediaries, particularly in the “identification, reporting and expeditious removal” of content that is “obscene, indecent, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic, harmful to child or otherwise unlawful”.