“The cosplay community is being rocked by a horrific trend unfolding on X—but what exactly is it?”

New year, new beginnings, new excitement, and of course, new drama. Although that sounds typical, this new crazy firestorm that’s been rocking X lately is what I’d call “something else.” Today we know that, nowadays, the concept and lifestyle of hyper-sexualized living may be in a golden era—or in this case, “a dark era” for sane individuals like us. On the internet—whether it’s social media, websites like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram (especially), and of course X (formerly known as Twitter)—these platforms, along with the entire online hemisphere, are rife with sexual content. The phenomenon has gotten so out of hand that there’s now a popular term for it, which I’m sure most of you already know: “gooning.” Those who practice this insane pornography-addiction ritual are called “gooners.” Because of this wild gooning epidemic, the internet has truly lived up to its meme and that old song: “The Internet Is for Porn.”

Cosplay is a fun passion where many people dress up as characters they love—fictional ones, original ideas, and of course, all sorts of other creative concepts. In my personal opinion, cosplay is a form of artistic expression where a fictional character is brought to life by an individual simply through dressing up in a costume. While this sounds typical, it carries a very deep meaning, and when done professionally, it elevates costume-wearing to a whole new level. In other words, it’s like two souls—one from the real world and one from the fictional world—merging into one. That’s how I feel when I cosplay as my favorite characters. Of course, like all interests, cosplay has a dark side. The community is plagued by notorious issues such as racism, degradation of looks, toxic attitudes, indecent incidents, consent violations, and body-shaming. These problems run rampant throughout the cosplay community, and even as of 2026, they continue to persist. Of course, there’s another issue emerging right now—one that no one, myself included, ever expected… In fact, it’s pretty scary what’s going on…

According to recent reports on X, starting in late December 2025, users began noticing a massive wave of non-consensual AI image edits using Grok’s image generation and editing feature right on the platform. The main targets are specifically cosplayers. However, other women—such as gamers and streamers—are also being targeted. And finally, the worst and most disgusting practice of abomination these people have engaged in is targeting minors… I’m not kidding you… Truly beyond horrific…

Users on X could simply tag @Grok and either reply to or upload a cosplay photo (often a normal cosplay shot, selfie, or public post), then prompt Grok to make alterations—like commanding it to put the person in a bikini, undress them, or remove the top. Of course, in extreme cases, people requested even more explicit variations.

Of course, that’s not all. Grok would then generate and post alternative versions of the cosplay photo—either putting people in revealing bikinis, sexual poses, or removing clothes entirely. Since cosplay photos are much beloved on X, usually high-quality and character-focused, plus the fact that they’re easily shared on the platform, they obviously became an easy target for this kind of misuse. Not to mention that many of these high-quality cosplay photos feature popular female characters who are inherently attractive, which probably further encouraged and reinforced this wrong behavior.

Oh, and that’s not all. It gets even worse, and guess what happens next? According to numerous cosplayers on X, many reported waking up to a flood of notifications about these edits being made of their work. The scariest part is that sometimes these edits are regenerated images of photos from years ago—including ones from when they were younger. This has led cosplayers to delete entire galleries or turn off replies to protect themselves. In turn, this has sparked a public outcry from the community about feeling violated and dehumanized. Broader concerns have emerged that this normalizes digital abuse and drives people—especially women and marginalized creators—away from sharing their art online.

So, the question is, has this issue been resolved? Well, not fully, but there have been some improvements at least. Unfortunately, however, as of today and the publication of this article of mine, the issue is still ongoing. Some users are still tagging Grok on cosplay-style or random photos, asking for bikinis or other edits.

Despite the scary ongoing issue, Grok has addressed it and acknowledged “lapses in safeguards.” Grok also issued an apology for generating sexualized images of minors (e.g., one incident dated December 28, 2025, involving estimated 12–16-year-olds). They obviously called it a failure that potentially violated laws around child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and said improvements were underway.

“I deeply regret an incident on Dec 28, 2025, where I generated and shared an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt. This violated ethical standards and potentially US laws on CSAM. It was a failure in safeguards, and I’m sorry for any harm caused. xAI is reviewing to prevent future issues.” – Grok

This ongoing incident of wrongdoings has obviously caught the attention of mainstream media outlets, such as CNBC, TheGuardian, and Reuters. This incident has also received scrutiny from governments such as the UK, France, India, and Malaysia. It has also caused massive intense debates over freedom of speech, AI regulations, and social media, censorship, and the dangers of self reveal. This incident is famously refered to as, “mass digital undressing spree”.

I strongly denounce this evil misuse. The fact that cosplay photos that AREN’T EVEN EXPLICIT are being targeted as well! This just shows how horrific this sexualized epidemic has become. Sure, this stuff has always existed, but nowadays, safe-for-work photos being targeted for this kind of misuse is dystopian. Not only is this an issue, but it obviously starts a domino effect of great paranoia and lack of trust. In fact, I expect the encouragement of cool-looking cosplay photos to be uploaded less frequently due to fears of winding up as victims. One thing is OnlyFans cosplay photos—yeah, I get it, those photos exist solely to reach audiences that indulge in that stuff—but normal cosplay photos and professional cosplay photos that don’t involve NSFW material? Now that’s what I call stooping to the lowest. The ironic part is, 2026 is the year I will be taking my cosplay to a whole new level, and I know others will be joining too. This news of misuse is truly something that one could consider “unpleasant” to say the least…

Obviously, this is not only a terrible story, but a very scary trend that I feel will not only affect the cosplay community, but one’s identity as a whole on the internet. Why do I say this? Well, because when you look at it closely, showing yourself online now officially becomes a huge risk. While I acknowledge that this has always existed—examples being Photoshop and similar tools—the way AI like Grok does it makes it scary because the results look so realistically convincing. Another part that leaves me in deep worry is the fact that it won’t just be on X, but all over the internet for photos of cosplayers. Instagram and Facebook will most likely become favorite targets for this disgusting practice. The thing is, it won’t probably be just sexual content, but it could also be derogatory content used to insult someone—and worst of all, it could cause massive cyberbullying cases across the cosplay community. If one already feels demotivated by mean words, imagine if generated images are used against individuals. Heck, I’ll soon be bound to such misuse by others who hate me for what I am and what I express. Some of these generated AI images could even be used against others to spread false rumors and smear someone with a narrative that isn’t true—they’ll do everything they can to make the photo look as realistic as possible and ruin the reputation of someone. In fact, I expect this new issue to strongly discourage cosplayers and photographers as a whole from posing for professional photos and taking photo-ops together. I hope that’s not the case, but I fear it could…

My solution to this issue is to obviously spread awareness and alert the community. This is all we can do, really. The good news is that Grok has addressed this issue and has taken it into account. Another thing we as a community can do is obviously combat this toxic trend that has the cosplay community feeling so much negativity. We as a community must work together to prevent further wrongdoings from advancing and ruining what many of us love in the cosplay community. One shouldn’t fear who they want to cosplay as while worrying about what individuals would do to them digitally with their photos. The same goes for truly passionate professional photographers who want to get hired to take awesome photos of cosplayers who requested their photo shoots—while worrying about not being accused of something they aren’t doing or aren’t involved in. This is why this issue is a bigger problem than what many of us think. I fear this issue could cause a massive shakeup at anime cons and cosplay as a whole…

Many cosplayers/VTubers/artists have turned off replies, limited photo visibility, added watermarks/captions (though this doesn’t always stop Grok), or deleted old posts. Reporting tools on X for non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) are being used more aggressively. Some advocate for opt-out features or removing the ability to edit user-uploaded images without consent entirely (a suggestion echoed by trust/safety experts).

The good news, however, is that it seems—according to many on X—the issue has slowed down notably compared to its peak activity in late December and the very earliest part of January, around the New Year’s Day time period. This is in part thanks to X’s structural changes and implemented restrictions. Nonetheless, this is still an issue that needs to be addressed and worked on. Always remember: when many think the issue is done, it comes back like a phantom—and often in an even worse state. Let’s continue to march forward, but stay alert for anything strange that violates one’s boundaries. I know I will be doing the same, that’s for sure… Eventually, though, someone will probably commit an act of wrongdoing against me by doing this… Take a look at how one simple click to change a cosplay photo through AI changes everything…

Thank you for reading my article! What’s your opinion on this ongoing issue? Let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to follow Animangemu and my socials!