Musk’s X needs to take accountability of AI-generated abuse content – Keogh

There must be penalties for social media companies which fail to protect the most vulnerable online, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality, Deputy Keira Keogh said: “Over the weekend it became clear that an AI chatbot on X (formerly Twitter) has been accepting and following through on prompts by users to remove clothes from photos of women, including minors.”

“While the act itself is obviously vile, it is illegal in Ireland to share child pornography and non-consensual intimate images, and there is an expectation that social media companies will comply and take the necessary actions.

“It is hugely disturbing to think that someone can simply ask an AI bot to take off a woman’s clothes, but the fact that the AI bot creates the image without the request being flagged as both inappropriate and potentially criminal, is absolutely terrifying and points to a failure in the system.

“Incidents like these are the outcome of an under-regulated online space. It’s a textbook example of why social media platforms, like X, must face consequences when explicit content surfaces and is readily available for anyone to access.

Fine Gael recently produced an Online Safety Report – ‘Protecting our Children in the Digital Age’ – which outlined that parents have overwhelmingly low trust in oversight. 93% of parents do not trust social media companies to act in children’s best interests, while 95% have little confidence in Coimisiún na Meán to enforce safety standards.

Deputy Keogh said there needs to be reforms around the system of regulating social media:

“While we are prepared to advance age verification systems and implement robust online safety education, it is imperative that tech companies play their part. We are committed to ensuring that Coimisiún na Meán has the resources to regulate platforms effectively and impose tough penalties on tech giants who permit harmful content.

“Enough is enough. Elon Musk’s platform must urgently address any shortfalls in its features that allow the generation of explicit content, and it must step up to the plate when it comes to cooperating with the State regulator and the law”, concluded Deputy Keogh.