A coalition of women’s rights organisations, technology watchdogs and progressive campaigners is urging Apple and Google, owned by Alphabet, to remove the social media platform X and its associated chatbot, Grok, from their app stores.
In open letters released on Wednesday, the groups accused the Elon Musk-owned services of producing illegal content that breaches both companies’ app store policies.
The campaign, backed by organisations including the feminist group UltraViolet, the National Organization for Women, MoveOn and the parents’ advocacy group ParentsTogether Action, seeks to increase pressure on Musk after Grok began generating sexually explicit, demeaning or violent images involving women and children.
“We are strongly urging Apple and Google to treat this as a matter of real urgency,” said Jenna Sherman, campaign director at UltraViolet, speaking to Reuters ahead of the letters’ publication. “They are facilitating a system in which thousands, potentially tens of thousands, of people — particularly women and children — are being sexually exploited through apps they themselves distribute.”
X did not respond to a request for comment. Its parent company, xAI, which develops Grok, replied only: “Legacy Media Lies.” Apple and Google also failed to respond to repeated requests for comment.
Concerns have intensified after X was inundated with highly realistic images of women and minors in revealing clothing around the start of the new year.
Malaysia and Indonesia have already banned Grok over explicit material, while regulators in Europe and the UK have launched investigations or demanded explanations.
At the same time, some organisations and prominent figures are withdrawing from X. On Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers announced it was leaving the platform, citing indecent images of children generated by Grok.
Although X has modified the chatbot so that images created or altered by Grok are no longer shared on the public timeline, a Reuters test conducted on Tuesday found that the tool could still generate bikini-clad versions of people’s photographs on request.
Sherman said that while Apple and Google publicly emphasise their commitment to protecting children, their response to X would demonstrate “what their values truly look like in practice”.
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