German Minister Urges EU to Take Action on X Regarding Grok-Made Vulgar Content

Screenshot of Grok chatbot (photo: Rana/VOI)

JAKARTA - German Media Minister Wolfram Weimer urged the European Commission to take legal action against X, Elon Musk's platform. This insistence came as a result of the circulation of vulgar images produced by Grok on the platform.

Recently, the X universe has been shaken by Grok's increasingly sophisticated editing capabilities. The chatbot made by xAI, which is also owned by Musk, can generate image requests very accurately. However, this ability is actually misused by many parties.

Many use Grok to produce vulgar images of women and underage children by removing clothing or other objects from the original image. Not only ordinary users, but also famous figures from various countries have also become victims of this image editing.

According to Weimer, vulgar images circulating on X today are no longer a common offense. Seeing this situation, Weimer emphasized the importance of consistently and strictly enforcing the EU Digital Services Act (DSA).

"What we are currently seeing in X looks like the industrialization of sexual harassment," Weimer said, as reported by Reuters on Wednesday, January 7. "It is very important now that the European Commission continues to enforce (the legal framework) very strictly."

In addition to urging the European Commission, the German Ministry of Digital also invited local people to be more active in reporting content that violates the rules on the platform. They also prohibit the misuse of Grok by warning of the dangers of creating or distributing images without permission.

On the other hand, Elon Musk seems to underestimate the concerns of officials in various countries. Although he banned users from abusing Grok's editing capabilities, Musk posted laughing to crying emojis in response to images of public figures edited using a bikini.

Germany is not the only party that is concerned about Grok's capabilities. British, Indian, and Malaysian regulators have also observed cases of unrestricted editing in the X application. The European Commission has also made statements and criticisms of this ability.

In a separate report, a spokesperson for the European Commission said that Grok's 'spicy mode' that can be used on X is not in line with EU rules. They called Grok's vulgar content an illegal and disgusting act.