Social media giant X, formerly Twitter, is facing global condemnation and a few crackdowns on its AI chatbot Grok for creating deepfake sexual images of youngsters and ladies on the platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
On Monday, Indonesia and Malaysia became the primary countries on the planet to dam Grok AI, citing concerns over non-consensual deepfake sexual images.
“The federal government sees nonconsensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the protection of residents within the digital space,” Indonesian Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said in a press release.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission noted “repeated misuse” of the tool to generate obscene, sexually explicit and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.
The regulator said notices were issued this month to X Corp. and xAI demanding stronger safeguards.
The European Commission has cracked down, ordering X to retain all documents referring to its AI chatbot — an order that has spurred questions on whether legal motion will follow.
“We’re thoroughly aware of the incontrovertible fact that X for Grok is now offering a spicy mode showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images,” EU Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said in a press release.
“This just isn’t spicy. This is illegitimate. That is appalling. That is disgusting. I can confirm we’re very seriously looking into this matter.”
Sweden’s deputy prime minister, Ebba Busch, became a victim of the sexual deepfakes when AI-generated images depicting her in a bikini went viral on the platform.
“I used to be involuntarily undressed by Elon Musk’s Grok on X. And let me be very clear – As a lady, I determine when, where and to whom I show myself in a bikini. I actually have two children. My daughter is nine. I don’t want this to ever occur to her,” Busch said in a video response she posted on X.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the photographs as “a sort of sexualized violence” and said: “It’s distasteful, unacceptable, offensive.”
On Monday, the UK’s independent online safety watchdog launched an investigation into X over “sexualized imagery” generated by Grok.
Get day by day National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“There have been deeply concerning reports of the Grok AI chatbot account on X getting used to create and share undressed images of individuals – which can amount to intimate image abuse or pornography – and sexualised images of youngsters which will amount to child sexual abuse material (CSAM),” Ofcom said in a press release.
The watchdog sought a response from xAI on the allegations against it and said the corporate responded before the deadline on Friday.
If the investigation finds that X has broken the law, it could be fined as much as 18 million kilos or 10 per cent of its qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is bigger.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a radio interview that X must “get their act together and get this material down. We’ll take motion on this since it’s simply not tolerable.”
India ordered X to take motion inside 72 hours to repair the AI chatbot or face motion.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a proper notice to X, accusing it of “gross misuse” of its AI and allowing “obscene images or videos of girls in derogatory or vulgar manner in an effort to indecently denigrate them.”
A failure to comply could lead to X facing motion under India’s cyber, criminal and child protection laws.
In France, prosecutors widened an ongoing investigation of X, referring to Grok allegedly promoting Holocaust denial claims — a criminal offense in France — to incorporate the sexually explicit deepfakes.
The federal government also flagged problems with the country’s communications regulator over possible breaches of the EU’s Digital Services Act.
“The web is neither a lawless zone nor a zone of impunity: sexual offenses committed online constitute criminal offenses in their very own right and fall fully under the law, just as those committed offline,” the French government said.
In Brazil, a lawmaker reported Grok and X to federal prosecutors, urging the federal government to disable Grok and all AI functions of the X network.
Is Canada doing anything?
Canada’s Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon expressed concern over deepfake sexual abuse when asked by Global News why the federal government and ministers are still using X.
“We must protect Canadians, especially women and young people, from exploitation. Platforms and AI developers have an obligation to forestall this harm,” Solomon said in a press release Thursday posted to X.
The statement didn’t mention X, Grok or Elon Musk specifically.
In a separate statement, he said Canada just isn’t considering banning X.
“Contrary to media reports, Canada just isn’t considering a ban of X,” Solomon added on Sunday.
There are “lively discussions” across the Canadian government on the right way to reply to the continued generation of sexual abuse material on X, Global News has learned.
Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press with the automated response, “Legacy Media Lies.”
Nonetheless, X didn’t deny that the deepfake sexual content generated through Grok exists.
Yet it still claimed in a post on its Safety account that it takes motion against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, “by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and dealing with local governments and law enforcement as obligatory.”
The platform also repeated a comment from Musk, who said, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the identical consequences as in the event that they upload illegal content.”
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.