X tells IT Ministry it is ‘in compliance’ with Indian law

X Corp., which runs the social media platform X, has submitted a written response to the Union Government on the latter’s notice to the firm on the rampant generation of non-consensual sexual content by its Grok Artificial Intelligence chatbot, a senior official said on Wednesday (January 7, 2026).

The firm insisted that it was “in compliance” with Indian law, the official said. Spokespeople for X and the IT Ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“They have not given us specifics, so we’re going to get down to specifics,” the official said, describing the social media firm’s response. “[They say] we’ve taken down content, we’ve blocked content. But we want more specifics, so we’ll be in communication with them … They’re saying that they’ll comply with Indian law.”

In a letter on January 2, the IT Ministry had taken note of Grok “being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner in order to indecently denigrate them.” The letter demanded that the behaviour stop, that a detailed technical audit be performed on Grok’s systems, and that the result of that audit be shared with the IT Ministry. A 72-hour deadline was extended to 5 p.m. on Wednesday (January 7).

Key differentiator

It is unclear if xAI, which develops Grok, and is a separate subsidiary under X Corp., will institute further safeguards; the official did not describe any specific commitment to that end from X. Elon Musk, X’s owner, has frequently vaunted the relative lack of safeguards and limits on Grok’s outputs, emphasising it as a key differentiator from services like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Instead, Mr. Musk said, “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content”. (xAI’s media contact email address automatically returns a response stating that “Legacy Media Lies” to any enquiry.)

Mr. Musk appeared to be leaning into the concept of safe harbour, which for years has protected platforms from legal ramifications for posts by their users. But the IT Ministry has instituted strict limits on when platforms can claim safe harbour, such as through the IT Rules, 2021. Large platforms, which have more than 5 million users in India, are also required to filter content proactively to prevent “obscene” content, and a lack of compliance could open X up directly to legal action.

A more detailed response to the controversy by X’s safety team narrowed in on a specific harm: sexualised imagery featuring children. “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary,” the statement on January 4 said. 

The platform does, however, have a policy that prohibits sharing “intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent.” It pointed to this prohibition in its response to the IT Ministry, the official said.