Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, expressing concerns over the alleged misuse of artificial intelligence tools on social media to share objectionable images of women via fake accounts.
While describing it as “unacceptable”, she stated that such actions constitute a serious violation of women’s privacy and called on the Centre to take immediate measures to protect their rights.
In the letter, Chaturvedi stated, “I wanted to bring to your urgent attention and urgent intervention on a new trend that has emerged on social media, especially on X, by misusing their Al Grok feature where men are using fake accounts to post women's photos and pushing out prompts to Grok to minimise their clothing and sexualise them. It is not just limited to sharing photos through fake accounts but are also targeting women who post their own photos. This is unacceptable and a gross misuse of an AI function.”
“What is worse is that Grok is enabling this behaviour by adhering to such requests. This is a breach of women's right to privacy as well as unauthorised use of their pictures, which is not just unethical but also criminal,” she added.
Chaturvedi appealed to the Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology to take strong measures against the social media platform X and to introduce safeguards in AI-based tools to protect women online.
In her letter, she emphasised that the country cannot remain passive while women's dignity is publicly and digitally violated under the guise of creativity and innovation. She highlighted that similar patterns of abuse are emerging on other major tech platforms, often without any oversight. Chaturvedi urged that addressing this issue should be a national priority to prevent women from becoming victims of such openly criminal practices and being further sidelined or pushed off these platforms.
She further noted that while India embraces the advantages of artificial intelligence, it cannot allow the dissemination of content that demeans women, and expressed hope that the Ministry would engage with major tech companies to address the issue.
Meanwhile, the persistent presence of morphed images on X, even after partial restrictions, has fueled criticism that the platform is not doing enough to safeguard its users. Concerned female users are reportedly deleting their photos.
Cybersecurity expert reacts
“Why are we asking or expecting victims to be careful at all? This isn’t about caution; it’s about accountability. When a platform like Grok even allows such prompts to be executed, the responsibility squarely lies with the intermediary. Technology is not neutral when it follows harmful commands,” Cyber-security expert Ritesh Bhatia informed CNBC-TV18.
He stated that if a system can be programmed to undermine dignity, the responsibility lies not just with human behaviour but also with its design, governance, and ethical oversight, and urged the creators of Grok to take prompt corrective measures.
