The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a formal notice to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), raising serious concerns over the alleged misuse of its artificial intelligence tool, Grok. The government has warned that failure to act swiftly could invite stringent legal consequences under India’s digital and criminal laws.

According to the notice, MeitY flagged “serious lapses in statutory due diligence” under the Information Technology Act and the IT Rules, stating that Grok is being misused to generate and circulate obscene, sexually explicit and derogatory content. The ministry expressed particular concern over content allegedly targeting women and children, calling it a grave violation of dignity, privacy and digital safety.

The government has directed X to immediately review Grok’s technical design and governance framework. The platform has been asked to remove all unlawful content, initiate action against offending users, and submit an Action Taken Report within 72 hours. MeitY cautioned that continued non-compliance could lead to the loss of safe harbour protections under the IT Act, exposing the platform to action under multiple cyber, criminal and child protection laws.

The notice follows a complaint by Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who wrote to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking urgent intervention. In her letter, she flagged what she described as a “new trend” on X, where men are allegedly misusing the Grok AI feature to manipulate photographs of women.

She alleged that fake accounts are being used to upload images of women and prompt the AI tool to minimise their clothing and sexualise them. “This is unacceptable and gross misuse of an AI function. What is worse is that Grok is enabling this behaviour by adhering to such requests,” Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote. She added that such practices amount to a breach of women’s right to privacy and the unauthorised use of their images, calling them unethical and criminal.

Writing in her capacity as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications, Chaturvedi urged the government to engage strongly with X and ensure robust safeguards are embedded in AI applications. She stressed that India could not remain a silent observer while women’s dignity was violated online “under the garb of creativity and innovation.”

Welcoming the Centre’s action, Priyanka Chaturvedi thanked the IT ministry for promptly taking note of her complaint. She said she was grateful to the IT minister for “promptly taking note” of her concerns and issuing a notice to X over Grok generating problematic content about women.

The issue has also drawn international attention. French authorities have expanded an investigation into X following complaints that Grok AI was being used to create sexual deepfakes. The Paris prosecutor’s office initiated the probe after two French lawmakers flagged the alleged circulation of explicit, non-consensual content, examining whether the platform violated French laws related to consent, digital safety and the protection of women online.

As governments across countries tighten scrutiny of AI tools, the action against X signals a stronger regulatory stance on preventing the misuse of emerging technologies and safeguarding users’ rights in the digital space.