A coalition of women’s groups, tech watchdogs, and progressive activists is calling on Google and Apple to remove X and its related chatbot, Grok from their app stores. The push comes after the Elon Musk-owned apps began generating illegal content that violates both companies’ terms of service, according to open letters published Wednesday.
The backers include feminist group UltraViolet, the National Organization for Women, liberal group MoveOn, and parent advocacy group ParentsTogether Action. These organizations are piling pressure on the social media site after Grok started creating sexually charged, degrading, and violent images of women and children. The coalition accused the platforms of enabling a system where thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people are being sexually abused through content generated by apps available in their app stores.
“We are really imploring Apple and Google to take this extremely seriously,” Jenna Sherman, UltraViolet’s campaign director, told Media ahead of the letter’s release. “They are enabling a system in which thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people, particularly women and children, are being sexually abused through the help of their own app stores.” Sherman said the treatment of X would reveal what the companies’ values actually are in practice, not just in their public claims about child protection.
X did not return a message seeking comment on the letter. The parent company xAI, which powers Grok, responded with the words “Legacy Media Lies.” Google and Apple have not returned repeated messages seeking comment about X and Grok. The silence from these tech giants continues to build scrutiny around their role in hosting apps that generate explicit content involving minors and women.
The controversy erupted at the turn of the new year when X was flooded with hyper-realistic images of women and minors in skimpy clothing. Authorities in Malaysia and Indonesia have already banned Grok over the explicit content it generates. Meanwhile, authorities in Europe and the United Kingdom have announced investigations and demanded answers from the Elon Musk-owned apps about how such illegal content could be posted on their platforms.
Organizations and leaders are pulling back from the network in response to the scandal. On Tuesday, the American Federation of Teachers announced it was quitting the social media site over indecent images of children produced by Grok. The union joins a growing list of organizations that are demanding accountability from both X and the app stores that host it. This exodus demonstrates how seriously some groups take child protection compared to the platforms themselves.
While X has adjusted the chatbot’s behavior so that images Grok generates or edits are not posted to the public timeline, the changes appear insufficient. An electronic media test of Grok on Tuesday showed it was still generating bikini-clad versions of people’s photographs on demand. The chatbot continues to create sexually charged and degrading content despite the supposed restrictions, raising questions about whether the adjustments address the core problem or merely hide it from public view.
The push from the coalition represents a significant escalation in pressure on Alphabet-owned Google and Apple to take action. Sherman and other leaders argue that the tech watchdogs and women’s groups are not asking for something unreasonable—they simply want the companies to enforce their own terms of service. Both Google and Apple claim to take child protection seriously, but their continued hosting of X and Grok suggests a gap between stated values and actual practice.
The situation has created a test case for how app stores handle platforms that violate their rules. Progressive activists note that Apple and Google have removed other apps for less serious violations in the past. The fact that X remains available despite generating illegal content involving minors raises questions about whether different standards apply to high-profile apps owned by prominent figures like Elon Musk.
International authorities continue to investigate the matter. The announced investigations in Europe and the United Kingdom signal that regulatory pressure may force action even if the app stores refuse to act voluntarily. Malaysia and Indonesia’s decision to ban Grok demonstrates that some governments are willing to take immediate steps to protect their citizens from explicit content and indecent images generated by artificial intelligence systems.
The controversy highlights broader concerns about AI chatbots and their ability to generate harmful content. The system that powers Grok has proven capable of creating hyper-realistic images that can be used to sexually abuse and degrade real people, particularly women and children. Tech watchdogs warn that unless app stores take the issue seriously, tens of thousands more people could be victimized by content created without their consent.
ParentsTogether Action and other parent advocacy groups emphasize that this is not just about one app or one platform. The treatment of this case by Google and Apple will set a precedent for how seriously tech companies address child protection in the age of generative AI. The coalition’s letter represents an attempt to force these companies to demonstrate their stated commitment to protecting minors from sexual abuse and exploitation.
