Sligo councillor calls for action to be taken against X and Grok AI in relation to sexual abuse imagery

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

Labour party councillor Ann Higgins has lent her support to the campaign calling for action to be taken against social media platform X in relation to Grok AI sexual abuse imagery.

Cllr Higgins was speaking in support of comments by Labour Party Senator Laura Harmon, who sits on the Oireachtas artificial intelligence committee, who said the Government response has not been adequate.

Hitting out at Grok AI Senator Harmon said, “It’s grotesque, it’s wrong and it’s appalling on so many levels that images online of women and children can be ‘nudified’, essentially de-clothed by Grok AI. Government need to make meaningful choices here and stand against this illegal behaviour."

Calling on the Government to consider banning X from Ireland, Senator Harmon said, “We’re talking about child abuse imagery here. If there was a factory created down the road this morning that was producing these kind of images, it would be shut down immediately.”

“For that reason, I do believe that we need to consider the option needs to be on the table in terms of banning X in Ireland.”

“This is something we need to delve into further at the AI Committee. We must take X AI to task on this. It is insulting that response so far from X thus far has been to limit Grok AI’s image generation to paid subscribers, allowing anyone with the means to continue this vile behaviour. Elon Musk as the richest man in the world is now openly generating revenue from exploiting women and children.”

Those comments were echoed by local representative Cllr Ann Higgins who said, “I believe that all government agencies should now follow the example set by organisations such as Women's Aid and quit the X platform to send a clear message that we do not condone platforms that facilitate the sexual abuse of children.

“The concerns regarding potential child sexual abuse material generated on X using its artificial intelligence tool, Grok has opened a debate around how quickly and effectively we can act to protect our children and (mostly) women from the extremely harmful effects of these despicable apps, which have no legitimate use, instead are used to humiliate, embarrass and shame.

Cllr Higgins expressed her frustration that while there is legislation in place, it appears that enforcement of the legislation is proving to be challenging.

“While Ireland has a lot of legislation such as the Online Safety Framework, the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, Coco’s Law and Digital Services Act, the actual enforcement aspect appears to be less clear, with discussions ongoing as to what is the correct legislation to apply and to whom.

““While I appreciate that the investigation process will take some time, and content has to be assessed to make sure it’s criminal, and the people responsible have to be identified, one would think that the owners of these platforms and apps also have a responsibility and they should be pursued instantly, while individual prosecutions will obviously take longer.”

Cllr Higgins insisted that breaches of the laws that are in place, those responsible should be held liable and she also called on the Taoiseach and Tanaiste to meet with senior X officials to send a clear message that Irish citizens who fall victim to this offence will be protected.

“As a country, we need to say unequivocally to individuals and platform owners that if you break the law, if you engage in activity that harms our citizens, you will be held criminally liable and face the relevant sanctions. Ireland needs to get tough with X and all other platforms that permit a nudification feature, speed up the accountability process and hit Elon Musk and other tech owners where it hurts.

“I also believe that both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste should request an urgent meeting with the senior executives from X, who have, in my opinion, shown complete disrespect to our junior minister for AI, Niamh Smyth, by delaying meeting with her for a couple of weeks. This serious issue warrants an urgent and serious response from our senior ministers.

“It’s time to send a clear message to the leadership of X, and all other websites and apps that facilitate this shameful practice, that Ireland will act to protect our citizens, particularly our children, from the creation and sharing of sexualised images.”

Article Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.