Government Issues Warning to Elon Musk's X Over Inappropriate Content

The Indian government has taken a firm stance against Elon Musk's social media platform X, demanding the immediate removal of inappropriate content generated by its AI application, Grok. A notice was issued to the platform's Chief Compliance Officer, highlighting failures to comply with legal obligations. The government warns of serious legal consequences for non-compliance, emphasizing the need for immediate action to prevent the dissemination of obscene and illegal material. This directive underscores the increasing scrutiny of social media platforms regarding content moderation and compliance with local laws.

By Narendra Chaudhary Jan 2, 2026, 20:12 IST

Government's Directive to X

New Delhi: On Friday, the Indian government issued a strong warning to the social media platform X, led by Elon Musk, demanding the immediate removal of all inappropriate and illegal content, particularly that produced by its AI application, Grok, or face legal repercussions.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sent a notice to the Chief Compliance Officer for X's operations in India, citing non-compliance with statutory obligations under the Information Technology Act of 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021.

The directive, dated January 2, states, "X is hereby instructed to remove or restrict access to any content that violates applicable laws without delay, adhering strictly to the timelines set forth in the IT Rules of 2021, while ensuring that evidence is not compromised in any way."

The ministry has requested a report on actions taken to ensure compliance, particularly to prevent the hosting, generation, publication, transmission, sharing, or uploading of obscene, indecent, and sexually explicit content through the misuse of AI services like Grok.

The order emphasizes that failure to comply with these requirements will be taken seriously and could lead to severe legal consequences for the platform, its responsible officers, and users who violate the law, without any further notice, under the IT Act, IT Rules, and other relevant laws.