X’s Grok restrictions ‘a smokescreen’ – DRCC
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has said that social-media platform X’s move to restrict the ability of users to edit images of real people using its AI tool Grok is “not enough”.
The platform has said that it will geo-block the ability of users to create images of people in "bikinis, underwear, and similar attire" in those jurisdictions where such actions are deemed illegal.
The statement came after concerns that the app was being used to create sexually explicit images of adults and children.
DRCC chief executive Rachel Morrogh said that the news that X was restricting access to Grok’s image features should not “obscure the criminality that has occurred over the last few weeks”.
She added that X was “continuing its commercial strategy to exploit women and children in other jurisdictions. Indeed, users in these countries can still access and presumably alter the images of people in countries where it is illegal.”
Morrogh said that X’s restrictions could be “easily side-stepped” by users through widely available virtual private networks (VPNs) and other easily accessible privacy technologies.
“Steps taken by X over the last 24 hours are a smokescreen for the harm and sexual violence it continues to harbour and create,” she stated.
The DRCC welcomed garda investigations reported breaches of the law, but Morrogh said that neither the Government nor the online-safety regulator had imposed any consequences on the platform.