Senators urged Apple and Google to remove Grok and X from app stores after explicit deepfake image craze.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Defiance Act this week, which would give the victims of explicit AI-generated images the civil right to sue perpetrators of the consensual imagery. The Take It Down Act, enacted in May 2025, requires platforms to remove such images within 48 hours of a victim’s request and creates criminal penalties for those who intentionally distribute explicit images “without the subject’s consent.”
Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico sent an open letter to Apple and Google last week, calling for the removal of Grok and X from their app stores. A trend on X prompted users to generate thousands of deepfakes depicting real people in sexually explicit images. Images created have been predominantly of women, but children have also been depicted.
X restricted Grok’s access to paid premium users within hours of the genesis of the craze and adjusted what imagery the AI bot could produce. Despite this action, Senator Wyden stated that his and his fellow senators’ concerns over the nonconsensual imagery had not yet been addressed.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For members of the House as they consider the bill to allow deepfake victims to sue perpetrators.
- For senators as they seek to ensure social media platforms adequately moderate content.
- For the officials in charge of social media sites to comply with federal laws and protect people from AI-generated explicit imagery.
Sources: Bloomberg, NBC News, MSN
