Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Calls for Tougher Action on X

It is not enough that X is restricting access to its Grok Ai image editing tool when so many people have been affected by its enabling of image-based abuse to date and while it continues to be available online in other jurisdictions, according to Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. 

The organisation’s Chief Executive Rachel Morrogh commented:

“Let’s not allow news that X is restricting access to Grok’s sexual abuse features to obscure the criminality that has occurred over the last few weeks, nor that it is 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.”

“Let’s also not allow X to dictate what the remedial response to its own criminal actions should be. Limiting access to Grok’s sexual abuse function by geo-blocking will be easily side-stepped by users via 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. At its heart, this tool is non-consensual. It is abuse facilitated by technology. It should simply not be available.”

“As we look for leadership in an increasingly chaotic and dystopian world, the presence of many politicians, businesses and Government departments on X continues to give this social platform legitimacy. It remains imperative that as well as taking legal action, our leaders demonstrate moral authority in removing themselves and their brands from a site that is positioned so clearly against the rights of women and children. 

“While it is positive that An Garda Siochana are investigating reported breaches, it is notable that so far there have been no consequences imposed by Government or the regulator on the platform, despite laws being broken and the headquarters being located less than 500m from Government buildings.

“In Europe, X has been threatened with action under the Digital Services Act. However, instead of being robustly enforced, the DSA has been used as a negotiation tool. 

“The explosion in the use of Grok following the addition of this new AI feature revealed how willing some people are to commit acts of technology-facilitated sexual violence once it is made easy for them to do so. This shows how fragile progress in the area of sexual violence is and how easy it is to go backwards.”

Anyone affected by sexual violence including technology-facilitated sexual violence can get free and confidential support on the 24-hour National Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888.

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