X at risk of UK ban due to deepfake content, minister warns
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has stated she would support Ofcom if it prevents access to Elon Musk’s social media platform X in the UK due to breaches of online safety regulations.
Ofcom says it is making an urgent assessment of X’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok, which was tagging people in photos posted on the platform and digitally undressing them without their consent.
X has now restricted the use of this image function to paying subscribers. But Downing Street said the change was “insulting” to victims of sexual violence.
Elon Musk, X’s owner, said the UK government “wants an excuse for censorship” in a reply to a post questioning why other AI platforms were not being taken seriously.
“The sexual exploitation of women and children is abhorrent and disgusting,” said Michelle Donelan, the UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology. “I, and more importantly the public, will expect to see an update on Ofcom’s next steps in days, not weeks.”
She added that the Online Safety Act “includes powers to block services from being accessed in the UK if they refuse to comply with UK law,” and “if Ofcom decides to use those powers, they will have our full support.”
An Ofcom spokesperson said, “We contacted [X] urgently on Monday and set a deadline for a response by today [Friday], which we have now received.”
“We are now conducting an urgent assessment and will provide further updates shortly.”
Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom’s powers include the ability to seek a court order to prevent third parties from helping X raise funds or access its services in the UK if the company refuses to comply.
These so-called business disruption measures remain largely untested.
The use of Grok to generate non-consensual sexual images has been condemned by leaders across the political spectrum, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling it “appalling” and “disgusting.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it was “appalling in every way” and that X needed to “go further” than the changes it made to Grok on Friday.
However, he said the idea of banning X in the UK was “clearly a very bad idea” and an attack on free speech.
The Liberal Democrats have called for a temporary suspension of access to X in the UK while the social media site is investigated.
