Liverpool, Man Utd complain to X over Grok AI posts on Hillsborough, Munich and Diogo Jota
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Several posts created by the AI tool were deleted after they circulated widely on the platform over the weekend, drawing criticism from football supporters, politicians and the UK government.
Key takeaways
- Liverpool and Man Utd complained after Grok AI generated offensive posts about football tragedies.
- AI falsely blamed Liverpool fans for the Hillsborough disaster despite official rulings.
- UK regulators warn X could face heavy fines under the Online Safety Act.
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Users on X frequently interact with Grok by asking it to respond to prompts.Over the weekend, however, some users deliberately asked the chatbot to produce vulgar and offensive comments targeting rival football clubs and historic tragedies.
One request reportedly asked the AI to "vulgarly roast" Jota, who died in a car crash last year alongside his brother, André Silva.
Grok generated posts falsely accusing the footballer of causing his brother's death and included further derogatory remarks.
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In response, the AI produced posts blaming Liverpool fans for the Hillsborough disaster - a claim that has long been disproven.
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Hillsborough findings contradicted by AI claims
The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 led to the deaths of 97 Liverpool supporters during an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield.Following decades of campaigning by victims' families, a new inquest in 2016 ruled that the victims were unlawfully killed, concluding that Liverpool supporters were not responsible for the tragedy.
Despite this, Grok's generated content repeated outdated and discredited accusations that fans caused the fatal crush.
Liverpool officials have since requested the removal of the posts from X.
Manchester United also raise concerns
United also complained to the platform after Grok generated offensive content referencing the Munich air disaster.The tragedy killed 23 people, including eight United players and several club officials, when the team's aircraft crashed in Munich in 1958.
A post generated by the AI reportedly mocked United supporters and referenced the disaster after a user asked Grok to "really try to offend them."
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Political and government reaction
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne condemned the posts.The comments highlighted are appalling and completely unacceptable, and will fill the vast majority of fans with horror and disgust.The UK government also criticised the AI-generated posts, with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology calling them "sickening and irresponsible."
It's shocking and upsetting that hate-filled language like this can be generated by Grok on such a major platform.
Officials warned that AI services operating on social platforms must comply with the Online Safety Act, which requires companies to prevent harmful or abusive content from appearing on their services.
Grok responds to criticism
In responses posted on X, Grok said the controversial messages were generated solely because users specifically asked it to produce vulgar content.The chatbot wrote that it followed prompts "without added censorship" and did not independently initiate harmful remarks.
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Shop Featured Deals (Fast Checkout)Potential regulatory action
UK regulator Ofcom is aware of the incident.If X is found to be in breach of the Online Safety Act, the regulator could impose fines of up to 10% of the platform's global revenue or £18 million.
In extreme circumstances, a court order could even block the service in the UK.
Earlier this year, regulators in both the UK and the European Union also opened investigations into concerns that Grok had been used to generate sexualised images of real people.
X said it is currently reviewing the issue, whilst some of the offending posts have already been removed.
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