Heidi Li Feldman suggests one small “something” we can all do while we hope regulators ban Elon Musk’s CSAM-sharing X/Twitter:

If you have a moment, file a complaint against X with the Apple App Store.

This is a terrific idea. It signals support from Apple’s customers to take action against Musk’s creepy AI tools and offers a fig leaf to justify pulling the apps from the App Store.

Here’s how to file a report (it took me less than two minutes to file reports against both X and Grok. You can only report apps you’ve downloaded, but both are free and you don’t need to launch them):

1. Visit the Report a Problem page for X (Twitter).
2. Select Report offensive, illegal, or abusive content.
3. Select an appropriate option under Tell us more….
4. Provide the necessary details. Restraint is better than bombast. (Feldman’s example—“X is using its AI bot to generate child pornography on demand.”—is appropriately succinct and direct.)
5. Repeat for Grok.

Creating and displaying sexualized images of children and non-consenting adults in X and Grok is a clear violation of Apple’s guidelines, in particular:

1.1 Objectionable Content

Apps should not include content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, in exceptionally poor taste, or just plain creepy.

And:

1.2 User-Generated Content

To prevent abuse, apps with user-generated content or social networking services must include:

• A method for filtering objectionable material from being posted to the app […]

(It’s also a more valid application of 1.1 than using it to justify pulling ICEBlock.)

While I harbor few illusions that reporting the apps will lead to Apple actually yanking X or Grok, if enough people lodge complaints, perhaps Apple can muster a meaningful enough threat of removal to spook Musk into addressing the issue. There is precedent: in 2018, Apple pulled Tumblr and Telegram for hosting or sharing child pornography within their apps.

I’m not prepared to accept bets on this happening, though. Apple is quite reticent to threaten big apps with eviction, plus Musk is already suing them on frivolous antitrust grounds. Apple may see pulling his apps as needlessly handing him ammunition—though it may well blow up in his face if he’s obligated to argue that Apple must host apps that create and display child pornography.