{"id":299552,"date":"2026-01-23T14:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/299552\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T14:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T14:05:11","slug":"dublin-city-council-stops-use-of-x-with-immediate-effect-after-grok-ai-controversy-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/299552\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin City Council stops use of X \u2018with immediate effect\u2019 after Grok AI controversy \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The use of controversial social network X<\/a> by Dublin City Council<\/a> has been officially stopped by its chief executive Richard Shakespeare<\/a>, with the council\u2019s presence on all social media platforms to come under review.<\/p>\n

City councillors last week called for a review of the council\u2019s advertising or posting on X following controversy over the ability of the company\u2019s artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) tool, Grok<\/a>, to produce non-consensual sexualised images<\/a>. X says it has halted this function.<\/p>\n

The council in recent days indicated it was pausing the use of X, though a small number of council accounts continued to use the platform on Thursday. The platform has been used by dozens of council accounts, including Dublin Fire Brigade, to issue information. The council also used X to issue weather alerts, including flood alerts.<\/p>\n

Mr Shakespeare on Friday morning wrote to councillors to say he had decided \u201call posting\u201d by the council on X was now suspended. \u201cThis applies to all city council X accounts and will be actioned with immediate effect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Elon Musk\u2019s AI app creates abusive images. Can it be stopped?<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s protocol committee will begin \u201ca review of our social media presence to ensure that the platforms we use, and our use of them, align with and support the city council\u2019s values and brand\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Green Party councillor Hazel Chu, who had proposed the review of the council\u2019s use of X, said she was \u201cglad to see strong leadership\u201d on the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Grok\/X has done is illegal and needs to be held accountable. Failing the lack of enforcements from the various regulators, it is essential that all State agencies, Government officials, public representatives should leave the platform,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cContinuing to publish on a platform that is actively causing serious harm to individuals, especially children, is immoral and repugnant. The Greens\u2019 original motion was to ensure the council fulfilled its moral obligation, and we hope other State agencies and public representatives can do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Does Grok believe it can legally generate intimate images of women in Ireland?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0IDA would consider removing X from its books if firm deliberately breaches online safety rulesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Independent councillor Mannix Flynn said X was being used as an \u201coffensive weapon\u201d often against the most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very pleased that the CEO has taken action. Dublin City Council cannot be aiding and abetting individuals who are reckless, who have no regard whatsoever for people, and who are using this platform for criminal activity. It\u2019s that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

He welcomed Mr Shakespeare\u2019s decision to review the council\u2019s use of all social media. \u201cI\u2019ve been calling for this for some time. I have long been concerned about the council\u2019s media strategy. The review needs to ensure that any statement that is being made on any platform is in line with best practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most city councillors have already stopped using X. Mr Flynn said: \u201cCouncil staff and associated service suppliers need to consider removing themselves from X until this matter is resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Are sexualised images being made by Grok AI illegal in Ireland?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The use of controversial social network X by Dublin City Council has been officially stopped by its chief…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,289,290,784,18,5066,19,17,148204,82,879],"class_list":{"0":"post-299552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-dublin-city-council","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-grok","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-richard-shakespeare","17":"tag-technology","18":"tag-x"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115944798448783882","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}