Imagine someone takes a photo of you in class and uses artificial intelligence to make you appear naked without your consent. The violation of consent is apparent, yet this form of sexual exploitation has surged since December.
Last month, Elon Musk posted an artificial intelligence-generated picture of himself in a bikini he created through Grok, an AI chatbot he launched in late 2023. Over a nine-day period following his post, Grok users generated 4.4 million images that the chatbot posted on X. The New York Times estimates that at least 41% of these posts were sexualized images of women, and the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimates that 23,000 depict children. While the United States is passing legislation on the matter, it has yet to seek retributive justice for the damage that was caused by Musk’s platform as the European Union has. The United States’ failure to hold Musk accountable for Grok’s dissemination of sexualized images of young women on X reveals how little progress our country has made when it comes to misogyny.
Grok’s connection to X makes it particularly dangerous. Users can generate nude images within seconds and then seamlessly distribute them publicly via social media. The chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate called Grok deepfakes “an industrial-scale abuse of women and girls” as 96% of sexual deepfakes target women and girls. The data could not be any clearer: We have a misogyny problem. For much of American history, sexual violence and harassment against women has been trivialized by men in power. American culture has made excuses for men and ignored their poor behavior since childhood, popularizing sayings such as “boys will be boys.” This phrase, ingrained in our culture and in how we raise our sons differently than we do our daughters, encapsulates our society’s willingness to not hold men accountable for their actions.
On Jan. 26, EU regulators announced an investigation of X after authorities reported that the platform had failed to stop the spread of sexualized images generated by Grok. In December, the EU fined Musk $140 million for misleading identity verification that violated the EU’s Digital Safety Act. Now, the EU is holding Musk accountable for the unfolding Grok incident by investigating another violation of the DSA, which could result in a fine of 6% of the company’s annual revenue. The EU’s pursuit to hold X accountable for its failure to protect young women and children from sexualized deepfakes reveals an understanding of the seriousness of the transgression, identifying the fact that the company must pay for the abuse and pain it caused.
Following public scrutiny, Musk announced restrictions that no longer allow “images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis” to be posted on Grok’s X account. However, this reform is much less effective than it might sound. Users can modify the likeness of a person ever so slightly to be considered not a real person. The restrictions do not apply to Grok’s app or website. Users are still allowed to generate sexual content without anyone’s consent, as long as it’s not shared publicly. There are countless loopholes. Meaning, these restrictions fail to provide a comprehensive solution to both the production and dissemination of sexualized deepfakes of women and children.
Despite the passing of legislation that increased penalties for the distribution of deepfakes and requires websites and social media companies to remove such material within 48 hours of notice from a victim, this type of content generation by Grok has reached record high numbers almost eight months later. Additionally, earlier this week the Senate passed The Defiance Act — introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y. 14) — with unanimous consent. The bill seeks to create a civil right of action that allows victims of AI deepfake porn to sue the creators and distributors of those images. While these legislative efforts show that some attention is being given to preventing the type of systemic damage that was caused by Musk’s unleashing of Grok, they fail to hold him accountable, like the EU, for the misogynistic abuse and damage caused by his platform.
While the DSA provides the EU with a direct mechanism to fine X in the wake of the Grok incident, the United States is not without recourse. The Federal Trade Commission recently warned multiple companies of possible violations of the Consumer Review Fairness Act, which prohibits deceptive practices. If the FTC were to determine that X misrepresented its safeguards moderation practices or risk associated with Grok — or otherwise engaged in unfair or deceptive conduct — it could open an investigation and pursue retributive justice for the damage caused by the platform. That means the United States has the opportunity to follow the EU’s lead and hold Musk accountable for the proliferation of deepfakes on his platform and the concrete harms they inflict on society, especially on young women and children.
Given that the majority age group engaged on X is that of College students and 18 to 29-year-olds, the threat posed by unregulated deepfakes and the misogyny disseminated by Musk is especially relevant on campuses such as ours. Much of this country’s misogyny is rooted in a lack of accountability for young men. If the United States is serious about protecting young women and girls, the federal government will follow in the footsteps of the EU and find a way to hold Musk accountable — making it clear that we no longer let misogynists off scot-free.
Beatriz Lindemann ’29 can be reached at beatriz_lindemann@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
