Britain is weighing up a potential ban on Elon Musk’s X platform after it was revealed that its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok has been exploited to create sexualised deepfake images of women and children.
Sir Keir Starmer has instructed media regulator Ofcom to explore every available measure, including blocking British users from accessing the site entirely.
“This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting and it’s not to be tolerated,” the Prime Minister declared, adding that “X need to get their act together and get this material down.”
Downing Street sources said the full powers of the Online Safety Act remain on the table, including fines worth billions of pounds or the complete removal of X from the UK market, where the platform has around 20 million users out of a global audience of 650 million.
Sir Keir Starmer has instructed media regulator Ofcom to explore every available measure
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GETTYUsers have been generating thousands of these images every hour, often by commenting beneath photos with prompts such as “put her in a bikini,” causing the AI to produce sexualised images of real women without consent.
A UK internet watchdog said on Wednesday it had found Grok-generated images on a dark web forum that would qualify as illegal child sexual abuse material.
Mr Musk bought the platform, formerly Twitter, for $44billion (£32.7billion) in 2022.
The dispute could heighten existing tensions between Britain and the US over freedom of expression.
Mr Musk bought the platform, formerly Twitter, for $44billion (£32.7billion) in 2022
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The White House has previously accused the Government of retreating on free speech, while President Donald Trump has directly criticised the Britain’s tech regulations as “not a good thing.”.
US Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers said: “Deepfakes are a troubling, frontier issue that call for tailored, thoughtful responses.
“Erecting a ‘Great Wall’ to ban X, or lobotomizing AI, is neither tailored nor thoughtful.
“We stand ready to work with the UK on better ideas.”
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President Donald Trump has directly criticised the Britain’s tech regulations as ‘not a good thing’
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REUTERSMr Musk has repeatedly criticised Britain’s Online Safety Act, claiming the law exists to “suppress the people”.
The legislation gives officials the power to block access to social media sites that repeatedly fail to remove illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and revenge porn.
Under the Act, Ofcom can apply for a court order, known as an access restriction order, forcing internet providers and app stores to block offending platforms from UK users.
Any ban would follow a formal legal process, including an investigation and a provisional ruling.
Ofcom warned this week that it could launch an investigation into X over the images and said it had made “urgent contact” with the social media site.
On Thursday, CNN reported that Mr Musk had ordered staff at xAI, his AI business, to loosen the guardrails on Grok.
A source said he had told a meeting he was “unhappy about over-censoring”.
Three xAI safety team members left the business soon after.
Louise Haigh has called on the Government and Labour to delete their accounts on the platform
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Louise Haigh, a former Transport Secretary under Sir Keir, has called on the Government and Labour to delete their accounts on the platform.
She said: “The enablement, if not encouragement, of child sexual abuse mean it is unconscionable to use the site for another minute.”
X’s images have also sparked outrage in the US, with Republican Senator Ted Cruz describing the AI-generated pictures as “unacceptable” and a breach of US law banning AI-produced revenge porn.
Elon Musk said this week: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”