A young college student was stunned to find her personal information and photos publicly shared on social media platform X by an impersonator. The shared details included her hometown, college name, intimate photos with friends, and a link to her Instagram account.
The student, who had disclosed her tuition fees for online classes, saw this information misrepresented as "rates for her services" on the platform. All her publicly available information was compiled into a thread and circulated online.
Distraught by the sexually explicit messages she was receiving as a result of the violative thread shared on X, the girl approached Rati Foundation, a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation working on digital safety.
Rati Foundation runs a helpline for people experiencing cyberbullying and exposure of intimate content. The organisation has dealt with over 350 cases of cyberbullying in just a year. The Foundation could not take the case further up the ladder because the victim had developed PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) asking the case to be withdrawn midway after the chaos subsided.
Siddharth P, director of the foundation, told Decode how X has the least satisfactory reporting mechanism of all the platforms. He said, “We have seen a hollowing out of trust and safety system on X, more so in recent years.”
Sharing another such case, Siddharth said, “Once a girl’s photo was being shared on X with nefarious captions. Since the girl wore a hijab, the slurs were mostly targeting her community. She did not even have an account on the platform.”
Siddharth further explained that the photo found its way to the micro blogging platform through her friend’s account who had got into an argument with a boy online. The boy singled out this girl’s photo from her friend’s Instagram account and targeted her on X.
According to the Rati Foundation director, although X did follow government regulatory requirements of a grievance officer, the provision was slashed a few months ago without prior notice. He explained, “Earlier we could email the grievance but now that has been reduced to a form where you can’t provide ample context or links.”
If the email was rejected by the officer, one could appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee and get the decision reversed. Now no such provision is available, he added.
“Bad actors who are being taken off from other platforms basically maintaining their presence on X and weaponising any publicly available information on the platform. There is no way whatsoever to convey consent,” he said.
Given such opacity, the recent update of X which officially permits users to post, view, and share adult nudity and sexual content under newly formalised policies, does not seem to be a good idea.
What does the new policy say?
According to the updated policy, Elon Musk's social media platform will allow the consensual production and distribution of adult pornographic content so long as it's "properly labeled and not prominently displayed."
"Sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression," the platform's policy states. "We believe in the autonomy of adults to engage with and create content that reflects their own beliefs, desires, and experiences, including those related to sexuality."
The updated policies regarding “Adult Content and Violent Content” replace the former “Sensitive Media and Violent Speech policies” and aim to offer greater "clarity" on the rules governing content and enhance "transparency in their enforcement".
The micro-blogging platform defines “adult content” as any “consensually produced and distributed material depicting adult nudity or sexual behavior that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal.” The definition also applies to AI-generated, photographic or animated content such as cartoons, hentai or anime.
This comes as several social media platforms are grappling with AI generated misinformation and deepfakes. Decode has found X is full of deepfake images of Indian actresses made on easily accessible websites. The websites enable users to artificially undress individuals by uploading their photos.
Not long ago, the platform took measures in response to AI-generated sexually explicit images featuring Taylor Swift, including the disabling of search keywords on the platform.
In tandem with the recent update, X is also encouraging users who regularly post adult content on the platform to adjust their media settings that will place “all your images and videos behind a content warning that needs to be acknowledged before your media can be viewed”.
Users can also add a one-time content warning to individual posts. X users under 18, or those who do not have a birth date listed on their profile, are unable to view posts marked as adult content.
The platform will continue to ban pornographic content that is exploitative, nonconsensual, or promotes objectification, obscene behavior, or the sexualisation or harm of minors. Additionally, it prohibits the use of adult content for profile pictures, banners, and other publicly visible areas.
Do Indian laws come in handy here?
Speaking to Decode, tech lawyer Yaqoob Alam explained that under Indian law, the government has the power to control and restrict online content including explicit content on social media platforms.
The IT Rules for intermediaries under the Information Technology Act 2000 provide 11 categories of “prohibited or unlawful content” that also includes “obscene or pornographic content”.
“Whenever a social media intermediary, in this case X, receives intimation they are required to remove such content”, he said.
According to Debarati Haldar, founder of Centre for Cyber Victim Counselling, the recent X policy is disproportionately unfair to women's rights and consent. She said, “For instance, if a third party uploads content without the owner's consent, the platform might evade responsibility under Indian laws like Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and other relevant regulations.”
Section 79 states that an intermediary shall not be liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by it.
However, Sections 77 and 67A of the IT Act and Section 66E address punishments for unauthorised uploading of explicit content and voyeurism. These laws can be applied against both the website and individuals who upload such content without permission, Haldar explained.
She added, “If children are targeted for sexually explicit content, then not only the POCSO Act, but also Section 67B (dealing with child pornography) of the IT Act may be applicable. And in such cases platforms may be considered responsible for not taking down the contents.”
Talking about the consensual sharing of information, Haldar said, “Even from an informed consent perspective, if a user uploads her own content knowing the potential consequences (such as harassment, illegal pornography, or bullying), the platform policy is nothing but a fine and clever move to save the company from unwanted legal liability for the informed decision of the users.”
As far as deepfake and AI manipulated materials are concerned, Alam said that the regulation is still evolving to deal with the challenges posed by such emerging technology. The existing mechanisms under the IT Rules do partly address this issue.
He said, ”The content that impersonates another person belongs to the category of “prohibited content”. When AI manipulates materials or deepfakes mimics or impersonate other person, which is usually what happens, such content would be “unlawful or prohibited content”, and therefore, social media platforms have to comply with due diligence obligations.”
Given the lack of specific regulation for deepfakes, we anticipate that the government could introduce amendments under the existing law to tackle this problem, Alam added.