Australian PM slams X over misuse of Grok

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has slammed blogging platform X over the use of Grok to generate inappropriate images. Albanese threw his outrage behind concerns over the use of the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok to enable exploitative sexual content.

While the number of reports received by Australia’s eSafety Office remains small, it notes that there has been a recent surge in reports of incidents relating to the use of the chatbot to create sexualized or exploitative imagery. In its statement, the watchdog warned that it would use its powers, including removal notices, where materials generated with the chatbot meet the threshold defined in the Australian Online Safety Act.

According to the eSafety Office, the platform, its chatbot, and a wide range of other services are also subject to the safety obligations to detect and remove child sexual exploitation materials and other unlawful materials as part of Australia’s world-leading industry code and standards. The Australian PM made his displeasure known on Saturday, joining other world leaders, including British counterpart Keir Starmer, in criticising the social media platform.

Australian PM slams X over misuse of Grok

“The use of generative AI to exploit or sexualise people without their consent is abhorrent,” he told reporters in Canberra. “The fact that this tool was used so that people were using its image creation function through Grok is, I think, just completely abhorrent,” Albanese added that the incident is another example of social media not showing social responsibility, noting that Australians and the global population deserve better.

Their criticisms are not far-fetched and are part of a global backlash at the Grok chatbot this week, which has prompted X to limit the use of its AI to create or edit images by restricting the tool for paid subscribers. On Friday, Grok was refusing the request of non-subscribed users asking for digitally altered images. “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features,” the chatbot said.

In the statement released by a spokesperson of the eSafety Office, most of the complaints received were related to the concerns of images of adults being altered, while a small percentage of those involved potential child sexual exploitation material. “The Image-Based Abuse reports were received very recently and are still being assessed,” the agency said. “In respect of the Illegal and Restricted Content reports, the material did not meet the classification threshold for class 1 child sexual exploitation material.”

As a result, the eSafety Office said that it refused to issue removal notices or take enforcement actions concerning those complaints. However, the spokesperson mentioned that concerns about the increase in the use of AI to carry out child exploitation persist. “This highlights the importance of Safety by Design, including the need for generative AI products to have appropriate safeguards and guardrails built in across every stage of the product life cycle, to prevent the misuse and weaponisation of these technologies before harm occurs,” they said.

Indonesia temporarily bans Grok over deepfake

On the other hand, Indonesia has taken decisive action against the Grok chatbot. The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs announced the move on Saturday, citing the urgent need to protect children and women from the harms of AI-generated explicit content. “The government views non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and citizens’ security in the digital space,” said Minister Meutya Hafid in an official statement.

She claimed that the misuse of AI to create fake pornography amounts to a form of digital-based violence. Meanwhile, Indonesia wants digital platforms in the country to prove they have safeguards in place to prevent the generation and distribution of prohibited content. As part of this enforcement, the Ministry has summoned X (formerly Twitter). The company will provide clarification, explaining measures taken to curb the spread of this menace.

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