Canadian government still using X amid platform’s child sex abuse material scandal
Global News
Canada’s AI minister Evan Solomon responds to X.com child sexual abuse material scandal with a statement on X, says more action coming on digital privacy.
The Canadian government is not planning any new action against X.com amid the company’s ongoing scandal over AI-generated child sexual abuse material and “nudified” images of women.
The social media company, formerly Twitter, has for weeks allowed its in-house AI program Grok to create unauthorized, sexualized images of women stripped of their clothing and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) based on users’ prompts.
Users have asked Grok to alter women’s photos on the site to undress them or depict them in a bikini. Reports suggest that users have asked the AI chatbot also to produce sexualized images of minors in addition to public figures.
The resulting images are posted publicly for X users to see, including the estimated 14 million Canadian X users.
The ongoing crisis — overseen by X’s owner, Elon Musk — has prompted governments around the world to consider serious regulatory action against the social media platform, including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggesting an outright ban of X was on the table.
But as of yet, the Canadian government — whose departments and ministers continue to use the platform — is not considering additional regulatory action against X over the AI-generated images.
“The Government of Canada takes reports of child sexual abuse material (SAM) and non-consensual sexual images very seriously,” read a statement from Public Safety Canada.
Evan Solomon, the minister responsible for AI regulation and safety in Canada, declined an interview request.
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