EU, new investigation into X for Grok’s sexual deepfakes | EUROtoday

Listen to the audio model of the article

The EU Commission has launched a brand new formal investigation in opposition to X beneath the Digital Services Rules, extending the proceedings to 2023. It will assess whether or not “Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent and unacceptable form of degradation,” Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen stated in a press release.

“With this investigation, we will establish whether X has complied with its legal obligations under the Digital Service Act or whether it has treated the rights of European citizens, including those of women and children, as collateral damage of its service,” provides Virkkunen. The investigation will serve intimately to confirm whether or not Brussels can even look at whether or not the corporate carried out and submitted to the Commission an advert hoc threat evaluation previous to the deployment of capabilities with a essential influence on the chance profile of the service.

In parallel, the Commission prolonged the formal proceedings opened in December 2023 to establish whether or not X has accurately assessed and mitigated all systemic dangers related to its recommender techniques, together with the influence of the lately introduced transfer to a Grok-based recommender system. If confirmed, the deficiencies would represent violations of the Digital Services Act.

As a part of the investigation, the Commission will proceed to gather proof, together with by requests for info, interviews or inspections, and should impose provisional measures within the absence of serious changes to the service. Brussels can also undertake a non-compliance determination or settle for any corrective commitments offered by X.

With the opening of the process, the nationwide authorities of the Member States are relieved of their supervisory obligations over the alleged violations. The new investigation is a part of the process launched by Brussels on 18 December 2023 on X, which additionally considerations the functioning of the notification and motion mechanism, the measures to fight unlawful content material and the dangers related to advice techniques. For different violations, together with using deceptive design, low promoting transparency and inadequate entry to information for researchers, the Commission has already adopted a non-compliance determination on 5 December 2025, imposing a high-quality of €120 million on X.