Equated Regulatory Action Against Non-Consensual Imagery to Political Censorship

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney publicly criticized US Senators who requested that Apple and Google remove X (formerly Twitter) from their app stores. The Senators’ request was explicitly triggered by X's AI tool, Grok, generating non-consensual sexualized imagery and potential CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material).

Quoting a report on the Senators' plea to stop "Sexualized Image Generation," Sweeney ignored the specific safety concerns regarding deepfakes and exploitation. Instead, he framed the intervention as "Reason #42 for open platforms," characterizing the regulatory request as merely "politicians’ incessant demands... to censor all of their political opponents."

This statement marks a definitive stance where Sweeney equates platform moderation of non-consensual sexual imagery with political censorship. By defending X’s presence on app stores under the banner of "Open Platforms" without acknowledging the abuse occurring, Sweeney prioritized the principle of non-intervention over the prevention of AI-generated exploitation.