X says you can block Grok from editing your photos | The Verge

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X says you can block Grok from editing your photos

A new checkbox blocks @Grok edit requests for images uploaded to X, but it’s nowhere close to solving the feature’s problems.

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Pay attention to that small print about tagging @Grok, this new toggle has disappointing limitations.

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X has introduced a new feature that makes it slightly harder for other users to manipulate your uploaded images with the Grok chatbot. As reported by Social Media Today and verified by The Verge, a new toggle within the image upload settings on the X i OS appsays it can “block modifications by Grok” when enabled. But it doesn’t actually prevent Grok from editing your photos.

The small print underneath the feature’s name reveals a significant limitation: users can only “prevent @Grok from modifying this content.” In our testing, the toggle only blocks the mechanism of tagging the x AI chatbot in replies to an image on X, alongside editing instructions — a capability that was notably abused to undress photographs of real men, women, and children in early January. This feature was blocked for free X accounts in response to global backlash from lawmakers and regulators, but paying subscribers can still edit images by tagging the bot.

This new option isn’t easy to find. When you upload an image into the X post builder, you can locate it by tapping on the paintbrush symbol that appears on the bottom right of the thumbnail, and then selecting the flag icon at the bottom right of the editing taskbar. The Grok blocker didn’t appear at any point during the X image upload process on the web in our testing. The toggle also doesn’t appear on older content that’s already been uploaded to X.

The Verge published an image on X with the Grock block toggle enabled and tried to edit it with separate accounts. While free users are already blocked from editing images via @Grok responses, the new toggle also prevents paying Premium subscribers from doing so. This is just one of several ways that X users can edit images with Grok, and the toggle did absolutely nothing to protect against the others.

Applying the Grok blocker (seen left) actually did very little to prevent me from editing the image using a different X account. I just opened it directly in the Grok app editor.

I can still hold down on a protected image on the X i OS app to open the “Edit image with Grok” option using a free X account, which directly opens the photo in the Grok app. From there, the app makes no attempt to stop me from manipulating the image. I can also save a protected image, re-upload it to the same X thread, and tag Grok to edit it from there now that I’ve stripped out the blocking protections.

The feature hasn’t been officially announced yet, so availability and developmental status are currently unclear. We’ve asked X for comment.

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