Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has written to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw expressing concern over the alleged misuse of artificial intelligence tools on social media to share inappropriate images of women through fake accounts.
While terming it “unacceptable”, she said such conduct constituted a serious violation of women’s privacy and urged the Center to take immediate measures to protect their rights.
In the letter, Chaturvedi said, “I wanted to draw your urgent attention and urgent intervention to a new trend that has emerged on social media, especially on X, by abusing their Al Grok feature, where men use fake accounts to post women’s photos and send Grok calls to minimize their clothing and sexualize them. It is not limited to sharing photos through fake accounts, but also grossly misuses their own photos and A.I. function.”
“What’s worse is that Grok enables this behavior by complying with such requirements. It is a violation of women’s right to privacy and the unauthorized use of their photos, which is not only unethical, but also criminal,” she added.
Chaturvedi appealed to the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology to take strong action against social media platform X and introduce safeguards in AI-based tools to protect women online.
In her letter, she emphasized that the country cannot remain passive while women’s dignity is publicly and digitally violated under the guise of creativity and innovation. She pointed out that similar patterns of abuse are occurring on other major technology platforms, often without any oversight. Chaturvedi insisted that addressing the issue should be a national priority to prevent women from falling victim to such blatantly criminal practices and being further sidelined or pushed out of these platforms.
She further noted that while India is taking advantage of artificial intelligence, it cannot allow content that degrades women to spread and expressed hope that the ministry will work with major technology companies to address the issue.
Meanwhile, the continued presence of morphed images on X, even after partial restrictions, has fueled criticism that the platform is not doing enough to protect its users. Concerned users are reportedly deleting their photos.
A cybersecurity expert responds
“Why do we even ask or expect victims to be cautious? It’s not about caution, it’s about responsibility. When a platform like Grok even allows such challenges to be made, the responsibility lies squarely with the intermediary. The technology is not neutral when it follows malicious commands,” cybersecurity expert Ritesh Bhatia told CNBC-TV18.
He said that if the system can be programmed to undermine dignity, the responsibility lies not only with human behavior but also with its design, management and ethical oversight, and called on Grok’s creators to take immediate corrective action.
