The government is flailing around on the Grok AI scandal unable to get its story straight, according to Social Democrats media spokesperson Sinéad Gibney.
“Last night, on Prime Time, AI Minister Niamh Smyth was clear that we have “very strong and robust” laws which criminalise the spread of non-consensual sexualised images of women and children, created by Grok, on X.
“I happen to agree with the Minister. However, this is at variance with what the Taoiseach told my party leader, Holly Cairns, in the Dáil yesterday.
“Instead of confirming that our existing laws can deal with this scandal, the Taoiseach suggested there may be gaps in the law and spoke about convening a meeting with ministers and the AG to discuss the matter.
“Incredibly, the Taoiseach didn’t even know yesterday whether a criminal investigation had been launched by the Gardaí.
“Given the seriousness of this situation, the immense harm that is being done to women and children and the proliferation of thousands of vile images – some of which constitute child sexual abuse material – this apparent lack of interest in a criminal investigation was quite shocking.
“I welcome that AI Minister Niamh Smyth has now written to the Garda Commissioner to query whether that investigation has started. I will be asking representative from the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau for further details about this later today at the Oireachtas Media Committee.
“While our existing legal framework can certainly be developed as technology evolves, a number of legal experts have been clear that we have laws on the statute books that can be used to go after the people requesting these images and the companies – XAI and X – that are creating them and facilitating their dissemination online.
“The big, and as yet unanswered, question is why this has not happened? Why has the State, thus far, sat on its hands while the government narrates the problem – instead of doing anything about it.
“The Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan even went so far as to try to push the onus wholly on the users, letting X and Big Tech off the hook.
“If the government cannot even address these clear, grotesque and outrageous breaches of the law by Elon Musk’s companies, how can anyone have any confidence that it will be able to tackle the wider issue of online safety?
“As it stands, the government is flailing around on the Grok AI scandal unable to get its story straight – while these disgusting images continue to be created and shared online.”
January 14th, 2025