The government has officially asked X (Twitter), which provides the artificial intelligence chatbot Grok worldwide, to put in place safety measures to protect youths.

The Broadcast Media Communications Commission said on Tuesday it notified X to establish and reply with youth protection measures for the Grok service, citing the spread of sexual exploitation material and non-consensual sexual images through social media.

The commission demanded safeguards to prevent illegal acts from being triggered through Grok. It also requested a detailed protection plan, including measures to restrict and manage youth access. It said it judged that preventive steps are needed to protect youths from harmful information.

X currently designates a youth protection officer under South Korea's Information and Communications Network Act and submits annual operating status data to the commission. The commission also requested additional related data for the recently launched Grok service.

In particular, the commission clearly conveyed to X that in South Korea, making, distributing, possessing or viewing fabricated sexual videos against the wishes of the person concerned is subject to criminal punishment.

Kim Jong-cheol, head of the Broadcast Media Communications Commission, said, "We will actively support the healthy and safe development of newly introduced artificial intelligence technologies." He added, "We will push for institutional improvements that impose on AI service providers a duty to prevent the distribution of illegal information such as sex crime material and to protect youths."