The microblogging platform X, owned by Elon Musk, announced on Sunday, January 4, 2026, that it will impose severe penalties on users creating or sharing illegal content, including permanent account suspensions, content removal, and cooperation with law enforcement, in direct response to a stern directive from India's Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) targeting vulgar and obscene material, particularly AI-generated posts.
Elon Musk personally reinforced the policy by stating that anyone exploiting the platform's AI tool Grok to produce illegal content would face identical consequences as those uploading prohibited material manually, emphasizing zero tolerance for misuse that violates local laws or involves child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The official Global Government Affairs account of X elaborated on the enforcement measures, confirming that illegal posts would be swiftly deleted, offending accounts permanently banned, and necessary collaboration extended to governments, while reiterating that prompting Grok for unlawful outputs carries the same accountability as direct uploads.
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This rapid response follows Meity's January 2 order mandating immediate removal of all obscene, vulgar, and unlawful content—especially derogatory AI-generated images or videos of women created via Grok—and requiring X to submit a comprehensive action taken report within 72 hours, amid growing complaints from parliamentarians and public figures about platform non-compliance with Indian decency and obscenity laws.
The government's concerns were heightened by reports, including a letter from Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, highlighting rampant misuse of Grok for generating and sharing fake vulgar content targeting women, prompting a broader December 29 advisory urging all social media intermediaries to strengthen compliance frameworks or risk legal prosecution under Indian law.
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