DUBLIN, Ireland: Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan has dismissed calls from the Labour Party for Ireland to ban the social media platform X.

O'Donovan was answering reporters who asked him whether the Government would take such a decision after reports emerged that the website's AI chatbot, Grok, was creating images of sexual abuse, including of children.

He pointed out that the European Commission was the regulator for X, in conjunction with Coimisiún na Meán.

O'Donovan was speaking at the start of construction of the National Concert Hall's Discover Centre, which is described as "a new, state-of-the-art, national centre for music participation, learning and community engagement".

The 21 million-euro project is due to be completed early next year.

Last week, the minister was called out after he said that individuals were responsible for the images they produce using Grok and that there was no point in criticizing X.

O'Donovan said his remarks were "taken out of context." He said there are many people and agencies involved when it comes to AI-generated sexual abuse images, and responsibility is shared.

He said several bodies are responsible for regulating the images, including the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, Coimisiún na Meán, and the European Commission.

When asked why he did not mention X's responsibility, he said the platform is regulated by Coimisiún na Meán. As the minister in charge of that body, it would be "highly inappropriate" for him to tell it what to do.

Asked whether he would call for an Irish organisation to be shut down if it published child sexual abuse images, he said he would take the same position.

He added that if he publicly told Coimisiún na Meán what action to take, he would rightly be accused of interfering with an independent regulator.