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MeitY raised concerns that Grok is being used to generate and circulate obscene, sexually explicit and derogatory content.
The ministry described the misuse as a grave violation of dignity, privacy and digital safety.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a formal notice to X (formerly Twitter) flagging serious lapses in statutory due diligence under the Information Technology Act and IT Rules over the misuse of its artificial intelligence tool Grok.
In its notice, MeitY raised concerns that Grok is being used to generate and circulate obscene, sexually explicit and derogatory content, particularly targeting women and children. The ministry described the misuse as a grave violation of dignity, privacy and digital safety, warning the platform of strict consequences if corrective steps are not taken immediately.
The government directed X to urgently review Grok’s technical design and governance framework, remove all unlawful content, take action against offending users and submit an Action Taken Report within 72 hours. The ministry cautioned that continued non-compliance could result in the loss of safe harbour protections under the IT Act and invite action under multiple cyber, criminal and child protection laws.
The notice follows a complaint raised 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, Priyanka Chaturvedi 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 said fake accounts are being used to upload images of women and issue prompts to the AI bot 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 said the practice amounted to a breach of women’s right to privacy and unauthorised use of their images, which she described as not only unethical but criminal.
Writing in her capacity as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications, Priyanka Chaturvedi urged the government to take up the issue strongly with X and ensure that robust safeguards are built into AI applications. She said India could not remain a bystander while women’s dignity was violated publicly and digitally “under the garb of creativity and innovation.”
January 02, 2026, 19:41 IST
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