Women’s and advocacy groups call for Apple and Google to drop X and Grok over illegal content, citing sexually explicit AI-generated images.
WASHINGTON: A coalition of women’s groups, tech watchdogs and progressive activists is calling on Alphabet’s Google and Apple to remove the social media platform X and its AI chatbot Grok from their app stores.
In open letters published on Wednesday, the coalition accused the Elon Musk-owned applications of generating illegal content that violates both companies’ terms of service.
The push is backed by the feminist group UltraViolet, the National Organization for Women, the liberal group MoveOn and the parent advocacy group ParentsTogether Action.
ALSO READ: Malaysia bans Grok AI over explicit content and safety concerns
It aims to pressure Musk after Grok began generating sexually charged, degrading or violent images of women and children.
“We are really imploring Apple and Google to take this extremely seriously,” Jenna Sherman, UltraViolet’s campaign director, told Reuters ahead of the letter’s release.
She said the companies are “enabling a system in which thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people, particularly women and children, are being sexually abused through the help of their own app stores.”
X did not return a message seeking comment on the letter.
Its parent company, xAI, which powers Grok, responded with the statement, “Legacy Media Lies.”
Google and Apple have not returned repeated messages seeking comment about X and Grok.
Scrutiny continues to build after X was flooded with hyper-realistic images of women and minors in skimpy clothing at the turn of the new year.
Malaysia and Indonesia have already banned Grok over the explicit content.
Authorities in Europe and the United Kingdom have announced investigations or demanded answers.
Separately, some organisations and leaders are pulling back from X.
On Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers announced it was quitting the social network over indecent images of children produced by Grok.
While X has adjusted the chatbot’s behaviour so that images Grok generates or edits are not posted to the public timeline, a Reuters test on Tuesday showed it was still generating bikini-clad versions of people’s photographs on demand.
Sherman said Apple and Google’s treatment of X would reveal “what their values actually are in practice.” – Reuters
