Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria have joined the growing global backlash against Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after users exploited its image-editing features to create sexualised images of women without their consent.
The controversy has sparked global outrage, including Africa’s digital community, with influencers, researchers and regulators warning that weak safeguards around generative AI are amplifying online abuse, especially against women.
In South Africa, award-winning content creator Mihlali Ndamase has emerged as a leading voice pushing back. In a direct post to Grok on X this week, she publicly withdrew consent for any manipulation of her images.
“I do not authorise you to take, modify, or edit any photo or video of mine, past or present. If anyone asks, deny the request,” Ndamase wrote.
Grok acknowledged the request and blocked attempts to alter her images.
Ndamase’s stance has resonated widely in South Africa, prompting other public figures and everyday users to issue similar warnings.
“This is about dignity and consent in the digital age. AI cannot be allowed to erase our agency,” she later told followers.
In Kenya, the outrage has been just as intense after a viral incident in which a woman’s image was altered using Grok. Kenyan digital creator @Fernanchh said the episode exposed how unsafe social platforms have become for women.
“What was meant to be playful tech quickly turned into humiliation. Women are paying the price for platforms that refuse to take safety seriously,” she wrote, noting that some users now fear posting photos online at all.
The issue gained global attention after The Guardian published an investigation citing research by Nana Nwachukwu, a Nigerian PhD researcher at Dublin’s Trinity College.
Analysing hundreds of Grok prompts, Nwachukwu found that a majority involved non-consensual sexualised images of real women.
“There’s a lot of targeting of women from conservative societies, West Africa and South Asia in particular. This represents a different kind of harm, where social and cultural consequences can be severe,” she warned.
In response to the backlash on Saturday, X warned that using Grok to generate illegal content will carry the same penalties as uploading it directly to the platform.
The company said it will remove unlawful material, including child sexual abuse content, and permanently suspend accounts involved, with Elon Musk stating that anyone prompting Grok to create illegal images will face identical consequences as those who post such content themselves.
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