A ban on the use of social media network X by Dublin City Council is to be considered following growing concerns the platform is being used a “a vehicle for abuse”.
The move could make the council the first public body to formally end its use of X following controversy over the ability ofthe Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, Grok, to produce non-consensual sexualised images.
The council’s protocol committee is to consider a proposal by Green Party councillors who have already ended their use of X, formerly known as Twitter, that the council would no longer issue posts or advertise on the platform.
Last month Grok, the AI chatbot based on X, was given the ability to alter images of people to remove their clothing. This enabled the generation of child sex abuse material and non-consensual intimate images of women, which were created using a feature which allows people to be “undressed”.
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In response to widespread condemnation, just over one week ago Grok began to impose restrictions on users who try to use the AI model to create non-consensual intimate images.
The Grok app now offers content warnings and moderations when users try to command it to undress or “nudify” images. Users of Grok on the X social network were also told that requests to generate sexualised images will only be granted for paid subscribers.
The move was widely seen as an inadequate response.
Minister for Media Patrick Donovan in recent days said he has deleted his X profile. Tánaiste Simon Harris said he did not intend to leave the platform as it was “better to be on the pitch”.
Niamh Smyth, junior minister with responsibility for AI, has requested a meeting with X to discuss the generation and hosting of illegal content on the social network. The company made contact with Ms Smyth last week to confirm representatives would meet her in the coming weeks.
As with many other social networks, X has its European headquarters in Ireland.
Green Party city councillors said X had become “a vehicle for abuse, and the promotion of far-right, racist and divisive politics. In the last week several regulators at home and abroad have launched investigations into X due to a potential criminal breach by X”.
They said Grok “the AI chatbot of X that was relentlessly pushed out by Elon Musk has been violating individual rights whilst potentially breaching laws governing child safety and harassment communications”.
They requested that council management to “stop using the X platform immediately” across all sectors of the council.
“We call on all departments of Dublin City Council to immediately cease posting on the X platform. We resolve to write to all other local councils to ask them to also cease posting on X. We resolve to write to all Government departments to ask them, and the agencies they manage, to cease posting on X,” a motion put forward by the councillors said.
They said they would write to the Ministers for Media and Justice to ask them to listen to the calls from the Rape Crisis Centre and legal experts to ensure that the relevant laws are robust.
Coco’s law, the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, needed to be expanded to include the introduction of a penalty for the creation of deepfakes, they said.
The move was put forward as an emergency motion for consideration on Monday’s city council meeting, but it was agreed the cross-party protocol committee would consider the Green Party’s proposal next month and formulate a policy recommendation for the council.
X has been contacted for comment.
