TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS has urged anyone impacted by AI-generated sexual abuse to report it to An Garda Síochána and said it is “disgusting” that social media platform X’s artificial intelligence tool Grok is being used in this way.

Since late December, Elon Musk’s AI bot Grok has started flooding X with non-consensual sexual images of women, children and men. 

Irish media regulator Coimisiún na Meán has said it is engaging with the European Commission on the matter. 

Asked by The Journal about the issue during a press conference this afternoon, Tánaiste Simon Harris said it is a crime in Ireland to share non-consensual intimate images and to generate child sexual abuse material.

“I would encourage anybody who has experienced this illegal activity, this criminal activity, to report it to An Garda Síochána and I would expect An Garda Síochána to treat this the same way they treat any other crime. This is absolutely illegal,” the Fine Gael leader said.

The Tánaiste said he had engaged with Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan today on the matter and that O’Donovan is engaging with his own department, Commisiún na Meán, and the Attorney General to see if anything further can be done. 

He continued: “The internet’s biggest platforms are no longer self policing. We went through a very significant legislative process at an EU level in terms of the Digital Services Act, that is now in place. And it is a crime in Ireland. I’d be really clear on that. It’s absolutely a crime and anyone experiencing it should come forward and report it.”

Since Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, the website has significantly loosened its content moderation and has become awash with racist, sexist, pornographic and illegal content, including child sexual abuse images.

Asked at what point he would personally stop using the platform X, the Tánaiste said it was “an interesting question” and one he would have to “more broadly reflect on”. 

Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley echoed the Tánaiste’s remarks and said she is “shocked and appalled” that AI assistant tools are being used to generate harmful and illegal ‘deepfake’ sexual images featuring children.

“This is an unforgivable violation of children’s rights and dignity,” Foley said, adding that reports can also be made to Hotline.ie by any person impacted.

“I welcome the fact that Coimisiún na Meán is engaging in relation to Grok with the European Commission, which is responsible for the oversight of very large online platforms. Coimisiún na Meán is engaging specifically with the Commission about Grok’s responsibilities under the Digital Services Act to protect the fundamental rights of people, including children.

“The harmful use of AI assistant tools will be covered by the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. The provisions to enable surveillance, penalties and enforcement will come into effect in August 2026 and there will be formal regulatory mechanisms available to the relevant surveillance authorities to engage with individual companies specifically in relation to their AI systems,” the minister said.