Irish People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who has publicly said he is raising his child without assigning a gender, accused Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Wednesday of facilitating the creation of child sexual abuse imagery through its AI system, Grok, during a heated exchange in the Irish Dail.
“Musk has now turned Twitter into a machine for the mass production of child sexual abuse imagery,” Murphy said, also alleging the platform enables image-based sexual abuse of women. He cited the criminalization of such material under Irish law.
Murphy claimed the government failed to act decisively, accusing ministers of accepting assurances from X without verification. He also alleged that Grok remains capable of generating sexual abuse imagery through VPN access and said X misled officials about safeguards supposedly in place.
“X lied to your Minister. X lied to your government,” Murphy said, adding that the company refused to attend an Oireachtas committee hearing on the issue.
He pressed Taoiseach Micheal Martin on whether Irish authorities had launched a criminal investigation into X itself, pointing to legislation including the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act of 1998 and the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act of 2020. Murphy also referenced developments in France, claiming prosecutors there had raided X’s offices and summoned Musk for questioning.
Martin rejected Murphy’s claims, accusing him of distorting the government’s position and conflating separate issues to suggest inaction.
“That’s a very dishonest portrayal,” Martin said, adding that Gardaí are pursuing up to 200 complaints and lines of inquiry related to the matter. He said the government does not interfere with police or prosecutorial decisions.
Martin confirmed that the European Commission has opened an investigation into X as a large online platform, working in cooperation with national regulators. He said there is “no toleration of child abuse materials on any platform” and pointed to Ireland’s existing legal framework
He also said the government is reviewing additional measures, including age-verification tools, and that Ireland is coordinating with European counterparts on enforcement.
Murphy’s comments drew attention on X due to how he chooses to raise his child. In a 2023 interview with The Irish Times, Murphy said he and his wife are raising their child without assigning a gender, using gender-neutral pronouns and "allowing" the child to determine their gender identity later in life. Murphy described the approach as an effort to avoid reinforcing traditional gender expectations.
“Musk has now turned Twitter into a machine for the mass production of child sexual abuse imagery,” Murphy said, also alleging the platform enables image-based sexual abuse of women. He cited the criminalization of such material under Irish law.
Murphy claimed the government failed to act decisively, accusing ministers of accepting assurances from X without verification. He also alleged that Grok remains capable of generating sexual abuse imagery through VPN access and said X misled officials about safeguards supposedly in place.
“X lied to your Minister. X lied to your government,” Murphy said, adding that the company refused to attend an Oireachtas committee hearing on the issue.
He pressed Taoiseach Micheal Martin on whether Irish authorities had launched a criminal investigation into X itself, pointing to legislation including the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act of 1998 and the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act of 2020. Murphy also referenced developments in France, claiming prosecutors there had raided X’s offices and summoned Musk for questioning.
Martin rejected Murphy’s claims, accusing him of distorting the government’s position and conflating separate issues to suggest inaction.
“That’s a very dishonest portrayal,” Martin said, adding that Gardaí are pursuing up to 200 complaints and lines of inquiry related to the matter. He said the government does not interfere with police or prosecutorial decisions.
Martin confirmed that the European Commission has opened an investigation into X as a large online platform, working in cooperation with national regulators. He said there is “no toleration of child abuse materials on any platform” and pointed to Ireland’s existing legal framework
He also said the government is reviewing additional measures, including age-verification tools, and that Ireland is coordinating with European counterparts on enforcement.
Murphy’s comments drew attention on X due to how he chooses to raise his child. In a 2023 interview with The Irish Times, Murphy said he and his wife are raising their child without assigning a gender, using gender-neutral pronouns and "allowing" the child to determine their gender identity later in life. Murphy described the approach as an effort to avoid reinforcing traditional gender expectations.
He said at the time, "We’re not gendering it. So we’re not describing Juniper as a boy, we’re describing Juniper as a baby, but it is male. We live in a deeply sexist and gendered society which creates certain expectations for boys and certain expectations for girls. And those things are changing in a positive direction, but there’s a very, very long way to go."
