Sport Ireland is reviewing its use of the social media platform X after reports the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok had been generating illegal images at the request of users.
It follows the decision by Sport England to indefinitely suspend its engagement with X, formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, due to what it describes as the “abhorrent outputs” associated with Grok.
“Sport Ireland has been monitoring reports that Grok, the AI chatbot based on the social network X, had been generating illegal images at the request of users,” a statement on Wednesday read.
“Sport Ireland’s use of the social media platform X is under review.”
It follows a post by Sport England on January 8th which stated: “At Sport England, our mission is to ensure sport and physical activity are safe and inclusive for everyone. To stay true to these values, we are suspending indefinitely our X channel and will be moving our community engagement to other platforms. You can join us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and BlueSky.”
The Sport England X account remains online as an archive, but will no longer engage with users.
Their decision to leave X was further explained by Sport England chair Chris Boardman, an Olympic gold medallist in cycling and three‐time Tour de France stage winner, who has held the position since 2021.
According to Boardman, X “increasingly promotes and monetises an environment that is hostile to women and girls” and “people must always come before platforms”.
“No matter where you come from, what you earn or who you are, sport should always be a place where everyone feels safe and welcome,” he added. “Those are values worth standing up for. When a space undermines that, walking away is not weakness, it is a responsibility.
“We exist to support everyone to be physically active, grounded in equality, dignity and respect. Recent developments on X – including some abhorrent outputs associated with Grok – have contributed to the amplification of and worse, normalisation of, misogynistic content. That runs directly counter to what we stand for.
“We recognise that some people and organisations believe staying in difficult spaces and challenging harmful narratives from within is the right approach. We respect that view. Reasonable people can disagree.
“For Sport England, however, stepping away from X is the right decision. It aligns with our values, supports our commitment to women and girls, and allows us to focus our efforts where they can have the greatest positive impact.”