India Orders X to Curb Grok After Explicit AI-Generated Content Appears on its Platform

The Government of India has ordered Elon Musk-owned X to make immediate technical and procedural changes to its AI chatbot Grok after users and lawmakers raised concerns over the generation of “obscene” content, including AI-altered images of women.

In an order issued on Friday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology directed X to restrict Grok from generating content involving nudity, sexualisation, sexually explicit material or other unlawful content.

The ministry also gave the platform 72 hours to submit an action-taken report outlining measures adopted to prevent the hosting or spread of content considered obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit or otherwise prohibited under Indian law.

The order warned that failure to comply could jeopardise X’s “safe harbour” protections, which grant platforms legal immunity for user-generated content under India’s IT laws.

The move follows complaints from users who shared examples of Grok being prompted to alter images—primarily of women—to make them appear to be wearing bikinis.

The issue prompted a formal complaint from opposition parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi. Separately, recent reports highlighted instances where Grok generated sexualised images involving minors, which X acknowledged were caused by gaps in safeguards. Those images were later removed.

However, AI-altered images making women appear to be wearing bikinis remained accessible on X at the time of publication, according to TechCrunch.

Responding to the ministry’s order, Musk issued a brief statement on X on Saturday, January 3, 2026, saying users who employ the platform’s AI chatbot Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as those who upload such material, calling it no different from other violations.

According to reports, France and Malaysia have joined India in condemning Grok over its creation of sexualised deepfakes of women and minors. French authorities said they are taking steps to address the spread of sexually explicit deepfakes on X, with the Paris prosecutor’s office telling Politico it will investigate the issue. France’s digital affairs office said three government ministers have reported what they described as “manifestly illegal content” to prosecutors and to a state-run online monitoring platform to secure its swift removal.

Separately, Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said it had taken serious note of public complaints over the misuse of AI tools on X, particularly the digital manipulation of images of women and minors to create indecent, offensive and harmful content.