Elon Musk’s X is a “cesspit that has crossed the line” over its Grok AI sexual deepfakes, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has told GB News.
No10 last week threatened to launch a crackdown on the social media platform after its AI bot function was discovered to be able to create pornographic photos and child abuse images.
The social media site subsequently attracted a flurry of controversy, with Mr Musk taking aim at Labour for wanting “any excuse for censorship”.
Ofcom, Britain’s media regulating body, on Monday launched an investigation into the problematic platform over concerns the sexual images could violate its duty to defend Britons from illegal content.
The Government has set out plans to unveil legislation to make it illegal to supply online tools deployed to create explicit images.
Joining GB News, St Albans MP Daisy Cooper ripped into the platform, dubbing it a “cesspit” and blasted “big tech giants who think they can get away with illegal behaviour”.
“We Liberal Democrats think that X should be suspended here in the UK pending this investigation,” she said.
She continued: “Now, I would say that that platform has been a cesspit for a very long time, but it has crossed a line. It really has crossed the line.
Daisy Cooper joined GB News this morning
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“Not just undressing women in sexualised images, but babies and toddlers.
“I haven’t seen [the images], but I’ve read about them. I’ve read the descriptions and they make me sick to my stomach just reading about them. That has crossed the line.
“This is illegal behaviour and we need to be tough. We need a Government that is going to stand up to these big tech giants.”
Ms Cooper also pushed for a National Crime Agency investigation into the platform.
Ms Cooper ripped into the ‘big tech giants who think they can get away with illegal behaviour’
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The Liberal Democrats are also urging that politicians who profit from the platform to donate the funds to a “relevant” charity.
Ms Cooper and her colleagues are now calling for the suspension of X while the investigation is carried out.
She added: “It is worth noting that there has been this outcry, rightly, about the use of Grok, and Elon Musk could have taken action.
“They could have taken action. They could have stopped the use of Grok for these purposes. But they didn’t.
“They just moved it to the subscriber only function. And some people have argued it was a very cynical move, some people say, because they were driving up demand for it and then made people pay for it.
“I don’t know whether that’s true or not, but quite frankly, they should have shut it down straight away. But their failure to shut it down shows that these big tech giants think they can get away with illegal behaviour.
If Ofcom finds the social network to have broken the law, the body is entitled to fine X up to 10 per cent of its global revenue or £18million – whichever figure is higher.
If Mr Musk’s site refuses to bow to the independent regulator, Ofcom can seek a court order to get internet providers to block access to the offending site altogether.
The Technology Secretary has since urged Ofcom to establish a timeline “as soon as possible”.