Cork Councillor deletes X in protest to Grok misuse

One Cork politician has deleted their X account over the social media platform’s Grok AI generating sexual abuse imagery and child sexual abuse material, while another has called for greater regulation.

The platform, bought by Elon Musk in 2022, has made headlines recently as its AI bot has been “undressing” images of women and girls.

Green Party councillor for Cork City North East Oliver Moran said he will no longer post on the platform.

“I’ve had a Twitter account for nearly 20 years, and I’ve been very active on the platform for 10 of those. That’s not easy to disentangle from, especially for a public representative, where there’s an obligation to engage with people across channels and where you will have established relationships.

“However, a point comes where you have to ask if what you’re seeing and what it’s enabling align with your values. Fortunately, I saw the direction of travel coming — in content, technology, and ownership — and began making preparations about a year ago. It allowed me to transition to other platforms, so now I’ll continue to answer comments and messages from constituents on Twitter, but I’ll no longer post new content there.”

Cork Labour senator Laura Harmon, a member of the Oireachtas committee on AI, said: “Any technology or platform that facilitates the creation, amplification, or normalisation of this kind of material poses a profound threat to personal safety, human dignity, and the rule of law.

“Ireland already has clear legal protections in place. Coco’s Law criminalises the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, including deepfake content. Separately, Coimisiún na Meán’s online safety code requires video sharing platforms headquartered in Ireland to prohibit and prevent the uploading and sharing of harmful and illegal material, including child sexual abuse content.”

She said that, in terms of AI, “technology is evolving faster than enforcement”, and said that regulators must act divisively where platforms or companies fail to meet their responsibilities.

Ms Harmon added: “I use X less and less frequently, and it’s gone downhill since it was formerly Twitter.

“I often consider leaving X as a user but many journalists and media outlets are on X, and I often have journalists and constituents reach out to me with queries through DMs on X. I am not ruling out leaving X in future, and the platform needs to be subject to stricter regulations in my view.”

It comes as minister for enterprise, tourism and employment has said the Government would have to make a “decision collectively” about its use of the social media site X, saying: “Obviously, the Government would have to take this decision collectively in relation to any platform that it’s on.”

Micheál Martin’s account on X has posted repeatedly this week, sharing highlights of his visit to China. Mr Burke said Ireland’s media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, is investigating the matter along with its EU counterparts.