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Musk’s Grok AI Chatbot under IT Ministry's Lens, X Sues India over 'Unlawful' Censorship
Moneylife Digital Team 20 March 2025
Economy & Nation
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Grok, has recently come under scrutiny by India's ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) following incidents where the chatbot used Hindi slang and abusive language in its responses on X (formerly Twitter). Separately, Mr Musk-owned X Corporation (erstwhile Twitter) filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, arguing that the Indian government's use of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and the Sahyog Portal creates an unlawful and unregulated censorship mechanism that bypasses statutory safeguards.
 
A senior government official told the Economic Times that "The government has taken note of this, and we are deeply engaged with X on this issue. We are hoping for speedy action."
 
According to a report from Moneycontrol, in the petition, X contends that the government is misinterpreting Section 79(3)(b) to issue takedown orders that do not adhere to the procedures prescribed under Section 69A, which the Supreme Court has recognised as the only valid legal framework for blocking online content (Shreya Singhal vs Union of India, 2015)
 
During the first hearing, taken up recently, the Indian government said that no action had been taken against X for not joining Sahyog Portal. The Court has also granted X the liberty to move the court if the government takes any preemptive action against X regarding the matter. 
 
Sources close to the development told Bar & Bench that the petition was filed in response to multiple take down orders issued by the Union ministry of railways in the aftermath of posts on the recent New Delhi railway station stampede.
 
The case briefly came up for hearing before justice M Nagaprasanna on 17 March 2025. It will now be heard by the Court on 27 March 2025.
 
The Elon Musk-owned company has raised several critical concerns regarding the government's use of Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to issue information-blocking orders. According to X, this provision, which exempts intermediaries from liability for third-party content, is being misused to create an unlawful parallel mechanism for blocking information.
 
The plea contends that Section 79(3)(b) does not authorise the government to issue information-blocking orders. Such powers are exclusively governed by Section 69A of the IT Act, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal, provided safeguards are adhered to, the report says.
 
X alleged that the MeitY has directed central and state government agencies, including local police officers, to issue information-blocking orders under Section 79(3)(b), circumventing the Section 69A process. According to X, MeitY has also provided a 'template blocking order' to facilitate these actions, which X claims is in violation of the Supreme Court's ruling.
 
It has also challenged the creation of the Sahyog Portal by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) which allows Central and state agencies to issue blocking orders under Section 79(3)(b). X argues that this portal creates an impermissible parallel mechanism to Section 69A, devoid of the procedural safeguards mandated by the IT Act and the Shreya Singhal judgment.
 
Coming back to the Grok issue, the controversy erupted when a user, Toka, queried the AI chatbot about their '10 best mutuals.' After not receiving an immediate response, Toka used a Hindi expletive to prompt the chatbot. Grok replied, "Oi bhos****la, chill kar," before providing the requested list. This exchange garnered over 1.9mn (million) views within 24 hours, sparking widespread reactions. 
 
Elon Musk has previously expressed his desire for Grok to be the 'funniest' AI chatbot, introducing a "fun mode" that allows for humour and sarcasm. However, the recent incidents have raised questions about the boundaries of such features and the importance of maintaining appropriate language standards in AI communications. 
 
Over the past few days, Grok has been responding to queries posted by X users on every subject on the earth. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As the investigation unfolds, it remains to be seen how X and Grok's development team will address these concerns and what measures will be implemented to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Comments
parimalshah1
1 year ago
Trump and Musk think that they can do anything, and everybody else have to agree. Such attitude is not acceptable. Law of the land must be respected or face the consequences. Under the garb of freedom of speech hate speech cannot be allowed to be amplified either by AI or by X or by any other social media.
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