These demands came in open letters published on Wednesday, in which the signatories accused Elon Musk's apps of producing sexually explicit, degrading, or violent images of women and children, arguing that this constitutes a clear violation of the companies' terms of use.
This movement, led and supported by organizations including UltraViolet, the National Organisation for Women, MoveOn, and ParentsTogether Action, seeks to exert broad pressure on Musk and his companies to compel them to curb this content.
“We are calling on Apple and Google to take this issue very seriously,” Jenna Sherman, campaigns director at UltraViolet, told Reuters before the messages were released, adding that the two companies “facilitate a system in which thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of people, particularly women and children, are sexually exploited through their app stores.”
Platform X did not respond to a request for comment regarding the messages, while its parent company, xAI, which operates Grok, issued a brief statement dismissing the allegations as "mainstream media lies." Google and Apple also did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
This move comes at a time when the X platform is under increasing scrutiny, following the spread of highly realistic images of women and minors in revealing clothing at the start of the new year, which sparked widespread criticism.
These developments have prompted some countries to take direct action; Malaysia and Indonesia have both banned the use of Grok because of its explicit content, while authorities in Europe and the United Kingdom have announced investigations or are demanding explanations from the companies involved.
In the same context, organizations and leaders began withdrawing from the X platform, with the American Federation of Teachers announcing on Tuesday that it was leaving the social network in protest against the inappropriate images of children created by Grok.
Despite X announcing it would modify the chatbot's behavior to prevent images it creates or edits from being posted on the public timeline, a Reuters test on Tuesday showed that Grok was still able to produce images of people in swimsuits on demand.
Sherman concluded by saying that Apple and Google's handling of this issue will reveal the extent of their actual commitment to protecting children, and will show "their true values on the ground."
