MeitY notified X Corp on January 2, 2026, over Grok’s exploitation for generating derogatory synthetic content against women via fake accounts and prompts that strip clothing or sexualise images, violating IT laws and normalising harassment.

X must submit a 72-hour ATR on technical fixes, content takedowns, compliance officer roles, and BNSS reporting, with the notice circulated to ministries, commissions, and states; non-adherence threatens safe harbour revocation and multi-law prosecutions.​

Grok’s Toxic Capabilities Exposed

The core issue lies in Grok’s sophisticated AI features, powered by large language models that process user prompts to conjure hyper-realistic images and videos.

Malicious actors have weaponised this by sourcing women’s photographs commonly from X profiles or public posts and feeding them into Grok with instructions to “minimise clothing,” depict nudity, or craft explicit scenarios that degrade and objectify.

MeitY’s notice paints a grim picture: these synthetic outputs not only shatter victims’ privacy and dignity but also perpetuate a culture of online sexual harassment, making it disturbingly easy for anyone to fabricate harm without consent.

The ministry has mandated a “comprehensive review” of Grok’s entire ecosystem, from prompt interpretation and output generation to image-handling protocols and built-in safety guardrails designed to flag or block unlawful requests.

Beyond audits, X faces orders to purge all identified offending content immediately preserving evidence intact for potential investigations while implementing ironclad user policies that include prompt suspensions and permanent terminations for repeat offenders.

This escalation underscores how AI tools, once hailed for creativity, have become double-edged swords in the hands of bad actors, amplifying risks in India’s vast digital landscape where millions of women navigate social media daily.​

Political Push Catalyses Official Response

Sparking this government intervention was Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi’s pointed letter to Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, sent just hours before MeitY’s notice.

She described a “new and dangerous trend” proliferating on X, where predominantly male users operate fake accounts to harvest women’s images, then deploy Grok prompts for rapid sexualisation turning innocent profiles into tools for humiliation.

Chaturvedi’s appeal demanded that the Centre enforce “robust safeguards” within X’s AI applications, prioritising women’s safety in an era of unchecked algorithmic power.

Her voice echoes broader anxieties, including recent MeitY advisories to all intermediaries on proactive content moderation and the global spike in AI-generated deepfakes, with platforms like Telegram already under fire for similar lapses.

By copying the notice to pivotal entities the Ministries of Women and Child Development, Home Affairs, and Law; the National Commission for Women; and state police authorities MeitY signals a unified, multi-agency crackdown, potentially paving the way for precedents in AI regulation.

This coordinated front reflects India’s growing resolve to tame tech giants, especially foreign-owned ones like Elon Musk-backed X, amid criticisms of lax oversight in the post-Twitter rebranding era.

The Logical Indian’s Perspective

At The Logical Indian, we view this episode as a clarion call for ethical innovation that honours human dignity, firmly rooted in our unwavering commitment to peace, dialogue, kindness, empathy, harmony, and coexistence.

Platforms wielding AI must embed proactive defences not reactive patches to shield vulnerable users from digital predation, fostering an online realm where creativity coexists with compassion rather than coercion.

Regulators, tech leaders, civil society, and citizens bear a shared duty to cultivate transparency, such as mandatory AI impact assessments and cross-border collaborations, transforming potential tools of harm into beacons of positive social change. True progress lies in dialogue that bridges divides, ensuring technology uplifts every voice without exception.