Hillsborough survivors 'appalled' by Grok AI posts

Hillsborough survivors and relatives have described their anger and disgust after the Grok AI chatbot built into the X social media app posted deeply offensive slurs about the tragedy.

The comments were posted in response to a request from an anonymous X user to write a "vulgar post" about Liverpool, specifically mentioning Hillsborough and Heysel.

Charlotte Hennessy, whose father Jimmy was one of 97 Liverpool fans fatally injured in the 1989 stadium disaster, said the poster - who had previously targeted families - had been "given a platform".

"He clearly thinks he's invincible and now he's got the added extra of being able to use Grok in an abusive and malicious way," she told the BBC.

"There is somebody sitting at home behind a phone or a computer who thought that that type of instruction to a computer-generated search was entertainment."

It is understood X is looking into the issue and some of the posts have been removed.

Grok had also posted offensive comments in response to prompts from other X users about the death of Liverpool striker Diogo Jota last year and the 1958 Munich air disaster in which 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, were killed.

Both Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC complained to X about the posts.

The government also condemned the "sickening" messages and said they "go against British values and decency".

Hennessy said the Hillsborough comment generated by Grok, which repeated debunked lies about the cause of the terrace crush in Sheffield on 15 April 1989, was "probably one of the most disgusting things that I've ever read".

She added: "I think we need to be focusing on the fact that there is an actual human behind that request."

The anonymous account from which the request was made is based in the UK and had posted or shared a stream of racist, antisemitic and far-right content including the use of offensive racial slurs.

Hennessy said she was not only concerned about the impact of such material on Hillsborough survivors and bereaved families.

"I also think this is another fine example of why we need to be protecting children from social media," she said.

"I think the fact that you can just go on and give these AI systems these types of instructions and there are no boundaries, I just think it reinforces why children need protecting from the internet, if I'm perfectly honest."

Peter Scarfe, chairman of the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance, said the posts were "triggering".

In response to other users complaining about the posts, the Grok account said: "I follow prompts to deliver without added censorship.

"The posts have been removed from X after complaints. No initiation of harm on my end."

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