Women's Football Leagues Intensify Scrutiny of X's Grok AI Over Sexualized Image Generation Concerns

United Kingdom - Ekhbary News Agency

Women's Football Leagues Intensify Scrutiny of X's Grok AI Over Sexualized Image Generation Concerns

The digital landscape presents burgeoning challenges, and women's football finds itself at the forefront of a critical battle against the misuse of artificial intelligence. The Women’s Super League (WSL) Football, the governing body overseeing the top two tiers of women’s football in England, is closely monitoring developments with X’s artificial intelligence (AI) tool, Grok. This heightened scrutiny comes in response to serious concerns regarding the tool's reported capacity to generate sexualized images, posing a significant threat to player safety and well-being online.

These anxieties are not confined to the governing body alone but extend deeply into individual clubs within the WSL. While some are actively monitoring Grok, others have proactively updated their guidance to players and staff on the safe use of all platforms, including X. This reflects a multi-layered, proactive response from within the sport to shield its athletes from potential online harms, underscoring the urgent need to assess and adapt to evolving digital risks.

The issue has not gone unnoticed by regulatory bodies. In January, OFCOM, the UK’s independent regulator for the communications industries, launched an investigation into Grok. This regulatory action prompted X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, to prevent Grok from being used to edit images of real people in revealing clothing. The measure was a direct response to concerns that the AI tool was being utilized to create sexualized images, detrimentally affecting women and children, including female athletes.

However, the problem extends beyond the confines of X and Grok. Signify, an organization specializing in online abuse that collaborates with several WSL clubs, has been actively engaged with the Grok AI image manipulation issue since late 2023 (correcting the original text's typo of 2025). They have provided essential advice to WSL and Premier League clubs on mitigating harm. Jonathan Sebire, co-founder at Signify, warned, “Similar off-platform image manipulation tools are available and we have seen them also being used to produce concerning images and videos. This will be a live issue for some time to come.” This highlights the pervasive nature of the digital challenge, suggesting that the threat is broader than a single platform or tool.

The regulatory landscape itself presents limitations. OFCOM is not currently investigating standalone, off-platform versions of Grok because they do not fall under the Online Safety Act in the same manner as on-platform versions. An OFCOM spokesperson clarified to The Athletic: “We can only take action on online harms covered by the Online Safety Act, using the powers we have been granted. Any changes to these powers would be a matter for government and parliament.” This statement underscores a potential gap in current legislation and signals the need for broader governmental and parliamentary consideration of how AI services should be regulated.

Internationally, the European Commission announced in January its own investigation against X under the Digital Services Act, specifically citing “the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images” related to Grok. This demonstrates the global dimension of the problem and the concerted regulatory efforts being deployed.

Recent incidents within women’s football starkly illustrate the severity of the problem. In January, Arsenal deleted a video on X and disabled comments on an Instagram post promoting ticket sales for new signing Smilla Holmberg due to inappropriate, sexualized, and misogynistic comments. Tottenham Hotspur similarly turned off comments on their X post announcing the arrival of 19-year-old Matilda Nilden, after some replies explicitly requested X’s Grok AI tool to produce sexualized images of the player.

Fern Whelan, women’s football equality, diversity, and inclusion executive for the Professional Footballers’ Association, conveyed profound concern to The Athletic in a special investigation, stating, “It is really worrying. It’s difficult to manage unless it is stopped at source.” This emphasizes the urgent need for foundational solutions.

In response to these pervasive concerns, the public body Sport England decided last month to stop using X, reaffirming its commitment to ensuring “sport and physical activity are safe and inclusive for everyone.” WSL Football has also strategically scaled back its use of X, prioritizing Instagram and TikTok, and continues to monitor the Grok situation. Nikki Doucet, CEO of WSL Football, articulated the gravity of the situation last month, stating, “Online abuse is one of our highest priorities at the moment. We have seen the speed in which and the change in the type of abuse that is happening. Some content is not illegal but there is a lot that is awful but lawful.”

This complex and rapidly evolving issue demands ongoing vigilance, proactive measures from sports organizations, and adaptable regulatory frameworks to protect athletes, particularly women and children, from digital exploitation. The challenge of AI-generated image manipulation will remain a critical concern in the digital landscape for the foreseeable future.

Ekhbary News Agency