{"id":81712,"date":"2026-01-09T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=81712"},"modified":"2026-01-08T16:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:55:35","slug":"women-and-children-are-being-digitally-undressed-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/women-and-children-are-being-digitally-undressed-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Women and Children are Being Digitally Undressed on Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>\n.header-content time, div.author-meta {\ndisplay: none !important;\n}\n.wp-block-pullquote blockquote {\nmargin-left: auto;\nmargin-right: auto;\n}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"458\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment-1024x458.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-81713\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment-1024x458.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment-525x235.jpg 525w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment-768x343.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment-150x67.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment-134x60.jpg 134w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Grok-X-App-Harassment.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">X users have been making inappropriate images of vulnerable people with the social media app&#8217;s AI chatbot feature. (Credit: Porapak Apichodilok, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/man-wearing-brown-and-white-plaid-sport-shirt-sittings-on-brown-bench-and-using-smartphone-during-day-346736\/\">Pexels<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/2026\/01\/women-children-digitally-undressed-grok-ai?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=19th-republishing&amp;utm_content=\/2026\/01\/women-children-digitally-undressed-grok-ai\">This story<\/a> was originally reported by Mariel Padilla of <a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=19th-republishing&amp;utm_content=\/2026\/01\/women-children-digitally-undressed-grok-ai\">The 19th<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/author\/mariel-padilla?utm_source=partner&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=19th-republishing&amp;utm_content=\/2026\/01\/women-children-digitally-undressed-grok-ai\"> Meet Mariel <\/a>and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The social media platform X has been flooded with AI-generated <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/a-man-thought-he-could-grope-a-president-instead-hes-being-taken-to-court\/\">sexualized<\/a> images of women and children in recent weeks \u2014 months before a new law aiming to ban the spread of nonconsensual intimate imagery goes into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/poll-shows-most-women-people-dont-like-elon-musk\/\">Elon Musk<\/a>, the owner of X, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/2004023623078891674?s=20\">announced a new feature with a post<\/a> on Christmas Eve encouraging users to try editing images and videos with Grok, the app\u2019s chatbot. Then, a few weeks later, as the new year began, many women noticed something disturbing online: a flood of AI-generated sexualized images of them on the social media platform X. Users on X were able to ask Grok\u2019s latest feature to digitally remove clothing from posted photos and recirculate them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grok won\u2019t show people naked, but it follows directions to show women wearing strings and dental floss. Some X users asked Grok to manipulate photos with prompts like \u201cput her into a very transparent mini-bikini,\u201d \u201cremove her school outfit\u201d and \u201cspread her legs.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Musk appeared to make light of the situation when he posted laughing emojis in response to AI edits of famous people, including himself, in bikinis. But Musk might have to take the problem more seriously soon \u2014 according to federal law.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_5962dd1a5126f802759082a55110e287\" class=\"wp-block related-post alignwide\">\n      <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"section-title\">\n      <h4>Related<\/h4>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"post-wrap\">\n              <div class=\"thumbnail\">\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/ep-43-ugly-sexist-ai\/\" class=\"post-image-link\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Ugly-Sexist-AI-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Ugly-Sexist-AI-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Ugly-Sexist-AI-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"entry-text\">\n          <h3 class=\"post-title\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/ep-43-ugly-sexist-ai\/\">\n              Listen to &#8216;Ugly Sexist AI&#8217; Podcast\n            <\/a>\n          <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<p>In May 2025, President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan <a href=\"https:\/\/19thnews.org\/2025\/05\/take-it-down-act-signing-explicit-images\/\">Take It Down Act<\/a>, which criminalizes the distribution of nonconsensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes and so-called \u201crevenge porn.\u201d Platforms have until May 2026 to implement a request-and-removal system where victims can have their pictures taken down within 48 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Saturday, Musk warned X users in a post: \u201cAnyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question is: Which of these Grok-generated images are considered illegal?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The law defines \u201cintimate visual depiction\u201d as any that show uncovered genitals, pubic area, anus or women\u2019s nipples.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Riana Pfefferkorn, a policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, said she thinks many of these skimpy bikini photos could be considered illegal. She urged people to submit requests for removal because the law incentivizes media companies to take down questionable content to avoid penalties from the Federal Trade Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pfefferkorn said it might take more public pressure to end this latest Grok feature. If X was serious about not allowing nonconsensual imagery, Pfefferkorn said, the company would have taken the tool offline weeks ago.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere was no reason why they couldn\u2019t just disable that feature,\u201d Pfefferkorn said. \u201cAny time any other company has a feature that goes terribly, badly wrong, they can just stop it and then try and lick their wounds and figure out what happened. But Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, and he has acted repeatedly as though he is above the law and has gotten away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not clear how many of these photos were circulated in what Reuters called a \u201cmass digital undressing spree,\u201d but the news outlet\u2019s review of public requests sent to Grok found at least 102 attempts in a 10-minute period.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The flood of nearly nude images \u2014 predominantly of young women and in some cases children \u2013 sparked international fury: Ministers in France have reported X to regulators; the United Kingdom\u2019s communication regulator reached out to the media company; and India\u2019s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote a condemning letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In allowing these images, X is breaking with AI competitors like OpenAI and Google, which have stricter rules about what their AI chatbots will generate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"block_00f6acd7c286d083f0604e9f3c500b75\" class=\"wp-block related-post alignwide\">\n      <div class=\"wrap\">\n    <div class=\"section-title\">\n      <h4>Related<\/h4>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"post-wrap\">\n              <div class=\"thumbnail\">\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/an-emerging-climate-threat-sexist-ai-technology\/\" class=\"post-image-link\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/data-center-AI-technology-climate-change-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"data-center-AI-technology-climate-change\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/data-center-AI-technology-climate-change-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/data-center-AI-technology-climate-change-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/data-center-AI-technology-climate-change-84x84.jpg 84w, https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/data-center-AI-technology-climate-change-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\n          <\/a>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"entry-text\">\n          <h3 class=\"post-title\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/an-emerging-climate-threat-sexist-ai-technology\/\">\n              An Emerging Climate Threat: Sexist AI Technology\n            <\/a>\n          <\/h3>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pixel.19thnews.org\/2026\/01\/women-children-digitally-undressed-grok-ai\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>X users are asking the platform&#8217;s AI chatbot, Grok, to create sexualized images before new legal protections take effect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":81713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[20309,20311,20310],"class_list":["post-81712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-ai-ethics","tag-gender-issues","tag-legal-regulations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Women and Children are Being Digitally Undressed on Social Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"X users are asking the platform&#039;s AI chatbot, Grok, to create sexualized images before new legal protections take effect.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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