BERLIN, Jan 6 (Reuters) – The European Commission must take legal action to stop the “industrialization of sexual harassment” taking place on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, German Media Minister Wolfram Weimer told Reuters on Tuesday.
Weimer this week joined European leaders, including the European Commission, in commenting on concerns over the amount of sexually explicit content created using Grok, X’s built-in artificial intelligence chatbot.
“What we’re currently observing on X looks like the industrialization of sexual harassment,” Weimer said of the images of very scantily clad women and children generated in a Grok feature known as “Spicy Mode.”
“It is now crucial that the European Commission continues to enforce this (legal framework) as rigorously as it has already started,” Weimer said.
He said the DSA required online platforms to do more to deal with illegal and harmful content and provide all the necessary tools to ensure the consistent application of EU law.
Online, Musk dismissed criticism, while Grok – which in early models praised Hitler and produced content featuring anti-Semitic tropes – said it would examine gaps in its safety measures and make improvements.
Musk and the U.S. government have both accused Europeans of censorship and stifling free speech through regulation, with Washington last month imposing visa bans on five Europeans fighting online hate and disinformation.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Madeline Chambers)
