The age rating for X, the social media app run by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter, has been adjusted to restricted for teenagers on Korea's Google Play Store.
According to the industry on the 11th, the Play Store, Google's app marketplace, recently raised X's user rating from ages 16 and up to ages 19 and up. The phrases "restricted for teenagers" and "extreme violence" were also added.
Google has not disclosed the specific background for changing X's age rating, but exposure to violent and sexual content within the app is believed to have played a role. On the 3rd (local time), X revised its guidelines to officially allow users to post "consensual adult content."
X embeds "Grok," the AI model from xAI, the artificial intelligence corporations led by Musk, and Grok has drawn controversy for generating sensational and sexually explicit content.
Google Play Store age ratings are determined automatically through the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) system based on a questionnaire submitted by app developers. Factors such as sexual content, violence, gambling, and profanity are considered. On the Google Play Store, domestic apps are categorized as ages 3, 7, 12, 16, and 19 and up, and X's age rating changed from ages 16 and up to ages 19 and up.
X's download age rating has also been changed to ages 18 and up in countries including Germany and Japan. In the United States, it was changed to the adult rating of ages 17 and up.
Recently, as international criticism has mounted that violent and sexual content is being distributed through X, pressure from countries has intensified. The European Union (EU) executive branch last year imposed a penalty surcharge of 120 million euros (about 212 billion won) on X for violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Korea Media and Communications Commission also in January requested safety measures to protect teenagers for the Grok service.
Meanwhile, on Apple's App Store, which sets age criteria independently, X's rating is still suitable for ages 15 and up.