‘We need to be proactive, not reactive’ – Mayo councillors to write to Minister urging ban on Grok
Mayo councillors will write to Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan to urge him to ban the AI app Grok in Ireland and to implement a long-term strategy to prevent similar apps from being allowed in the future.
The move comes amid growing concerns over the use of Elon Musk’s AI tool to generate sexually explicit images of women and children.
Cllr Marie-Thérèse Duffy tabled the motion, calling on both local and national government to take action to protect Irish women and children, adding that Malaysia and Indonesia have already taken steps to block the app.
She called for the social media company X (formerly Twitter) to be held accountable, noting that it has a responsibility under EU law to remove deepfake content, but that its failure to do so is allowing misogyny and objectification to run unchecked on the platform.
“In light of non-stop news coverage last week on the AI app Grok, the most downloaded app in Ireland, it would be remiss not to highlight this serious issue as a local authority,
“Grok allows paid users to generate harmful content, and it has a disturbing nudification tool. They are taking photos of young children and women and using the app to remove their clothing from the photo,
“These deepfake images are being circulated and it is normalising the nudification of women and children - this is an urgent issue in Ireland at the moment,” she said.
Cllr Duffy, a teacher, said she was becoming increasingly concerned about the situation and said that elected representatives “must take action to protect Irish women and children”.
She acknowledged the ongoing work of Deputy Keira Keogh, Mayo TD and Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality, as well as Minister of State with responsibility for AI, Niamh Smyth.
“Immediate action is required on this locally and nationally. It is a wake-up call, we need to be proactive, not reactive,” she said.
She called for X to be held accountable and said individuals generating sexually explicit deepfake images of women and children must also face consequences.
“They are choosing to nudify images of children and women. There needs to be action and repercussions for those in Ireland who are engaging in this because it is vile,” she said, “Malaysia and Indonesia have now banned this app. Ireland needs to urgently ban the app too.”
She called for a long-term strategy to be implemented at a national level to address the issue, and asked that the council write to Minister O’Donovan, urging him to block Grok and any similar apps in Ireland that have the ability to create deepfake images.
The motion was seconded by all councillors in the chamber.
Cllr Annie May Reape described the situation as “disgraceful” and thanked Cllr Duffy for raising the issue.
“As a local authority we should lead the way to have this condemned outright,” she said.
Cllr Neil Cruise also expressed full support for the motion, adding: “It’s shameful what X is doing, or not doing, in relation to that,” he said.
Minister O’Donovan stated earlier this week that responsibility for investigating Grok and X lies with Coimisiún na Meán, adding that as the minister with responsibility for the body, it would be “inappropriate” for him to tell them what to do.
Minister Smyth is reportedly going to meet with X in the coming weeks, following her request to senior executives for a meeting.
A meeting of the Oireachtas Arts and Media Committee took place on Wednesday, January 14, where online safety was discussed in relation to the unfolding situation with the AI tool.
A follow-up meeting on online safety is scheduled for February 4, 2026, with Meta, Google, TikTok, and X all invited to attend.
In light of the global backlash that Grok has received in recent days, Elon Musk’s platform X has announced that they have implemented technological measures that block the chatbot from generating revealing images of real people in jurisdictions where the action is illegal.
In Ireland, under Coco’s Law, it is illegal to share or threaten to share imitate images. During yesterdays meeting of the Oireachtas Arts and Media Committee, it was confirmed that Coco’s Law also applies to AI generated images.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.