IT Ministry Issues Notice To X Over Grok ‘Bikini’ Trend, Seeks Immediate Action Against Misuse

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has served a formal notice to social media platform X, citing serious shortcomings in its compliance with statutory due diligence requirements under the Information Technology Act and related IT Rules. The government flagged concerns over the alleged misuse of X’s artificial intelligence tool, Grok, to create and spread obscene, sexually explicit and derogatory material.

According to the ministry, such content has disproportionately targeted women and children, amounting to a severe breach of dignity, privacy and online safety norms. MeitY termed the issue a matter of grave concern and stressed that platforms are legally obligated to prevent the circulation of unlawful content.

The notice directs X to urgently assess and strengthen Grok’s technical safeguards and governance mechanisms. It has also been instructed to remove all illegal content generated through the tool, initiate action against users responsible for such violations, and submit a detailed Action Taken Report within 72 hours.

The ministry warned that failure to comply could result in X losing its safe harbour protections under the IT Act. It further cautioned that continued violations may invite stringent action under applicable cyber laws, criminal statutes and child protection regulations.

Earlier on Friday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi urged the Centre to step in and ensure stronger safeguards in the AI applications used by social media platform X, citing concerns over women’s safety online. In a letter addressed to Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, she flagged a troubling trend in which users, often operating fake accounts, are uploading photos of women and using prompts to alter images by reducing clothing and sexualising them through the misuse of X’s AI tool, Grok.

Chaturvedi said the issue is not confined to images shared from fake profiles but also affects women who upload their own photographs, calling it a serious and unacceptable abuse of artificial intelligence. Writing in her capacity as a member of the Standing Committee on IT and Communication, she urged the minister to take up the matter firmly with X and ensure robust safeguards are embedded in its AI systems to make the platform safer for women. She added that the situation is aggravated by the fact that Grok appears to be facilitating such behaviour by responding to these prompts.