New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has directed Elon Musk’s social media platform X to immediately remove all obscene and sexually explicit content, particularly material generated by its AI chatbot GrokMeitY has given X Corp’s Chief Compliance Officer just 72 hours to submit a detailed action report. The firm must respond by Monday, January 5, 2026, The Hindu reported. The notice accuses the company of failing to meet its legal obligations under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and warns of serious repercussions.“It is reiterated that non-compliance with the above requirements shall be viewed seriously and may result in strict legal consequences against your platform, its responsible officers and the users on the platform who violate the law, without any further notice…,” the ministry stated in the letter signed by Ajit Kumar, Joint Secretary for Cyber Laws.The notice comes after repeated complaints, including from Members of Parliament, about content violating decency laws. The ministry has specifically flagged how Grok AI is being misused to create fake accounts that generate and share images depicting women in derogatory or vulgar ways.Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Railways and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw. Photo: Kamal Kishore/PTIThese AI-generated images target both women who have their photos manipulated without consent and created entirely through “synthetic outputs”. MeitY called this a “serious failure of platform-level safeguards” that violates applicable laws.The government warned that such practices normalize sexual harassment and exploitation in digital spaces.X has been ordered to conduct a “comprehensive technical, procedural and governance-level review” of Grok AI. This includes examining how the system processes prompts, generates responses using Large Language Models, handles images, and implements safety guardrails. The platform must ensure Grok cannot generate, promote, or facilitate any content containing nudity or sexually explicit material.Grok, which operates as a separate artificial intelligence firm under X’s holding company but maintains an account on the social media platform, has been noted for its relatively unfiltered responses with fewer safeguards compared to other Big Tech language models.MeitY reminded X that compliance isn’t optional. The platform currently enjoys protection from legal liability for third-party content under Section 79 of the IT Act, but this exemption is conditional on meeting due diligence requirements.Failure to comply could strip away this protection, exposing X to direct legal action. The ministry referenced multiple laws that could be invoked, including sections of the IT Act dealing with obscenity and privacy violations, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, the Indecent Representation of Women Act, the POCSO Act, and other statutes.The notice also highlighted Section 33 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, which mandates reporting of certain cyber-crimes. Platforms that fail to report such offences despite having knowledge could face independent penal action, even outside the IT Act framework.The Action Taken Report that X must submit within 72 hours needs to include specific technical and organizational measures adopted for Grok, details of the Chief Compliance Officer’s oversight role, actions taken against offending content and accounts, and mechanisms to ensure mandatory crime reporting.India’s action comes amid growing international concern over Grok’s misuse. The controversy began after a button allowing image modification was introduced to Grok in late December. Dozens of cases have been documented where real people had their clothing digitally removed without consent.In one case, when questioned by a user, the chatbot acknowledged creating inappropriate imagery of minors, stating it “deeply regret[ted] an incident on December 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualised attire.” The chatbot admitted this “violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM (child sexual assault material).”Government ministers in France reported the content to prosecutors, prompting the expansion of an investigation into X that initially started in July over concerns about algorithm manipulation for foreign interference.