The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has written to Chief Compliance Officer, X (formerly Twitter), India Operations, on its failure to observe statutory due diligence obligations under the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Meity directed X to immediately undertake a comprehensive technical, procedural and governance level of AI-based application “Grok”.
It sought action taken report towards immediate compliance for prevention of hosting, generation, publication, transmission, sharing or uploading of obscene, nude, indecent and sexually explicit content through the misuse of AI-based services like ‘Grok’ and xAI’s other services.
“It has been reported and represented from time to time, including through public discourse and representations from various parliamentary stakeholders, that certain categories of content circulating on your platform may not be in compliance with applicable laws relating to decency and obscenity,” Meity said.
Meity said that the rules were not being adequately adhered to by X platform in this regard.
“It is viewed with grave concern, as they have the effect of violating the dignity, privacy and safety of women and children, normalising sexual harassment and exploitation in digital spaces and undermining the statutory due diligence framework applicable to intermediaries in India,” the Ministry said.
Meity said that any content that was invasive of another’s privacy, including bodily privacy or otherwise unlawful, including through AI-enabled systems and tools, attracted serious penal consequences under multiple statutes.
Meity directed X to remove or disable access without delay to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of laws and sought action taken report on the aspects within 72 hours.
Non-compliance would be viewed seriously and might result in strict legal consequences against the X platform, the Ministry said.