Elon Musk has accused Labour of wanting “any excuse for censorship” as an Ofcom probe into his X social media platform continues.
His website faces the threat of being shut down over AI-generated pornography and child abuse images.
The platform has an AI chatbot called Grok which can create sexual images of people, including children, at users’ request.
But other AI platforms like ChatGPT are able to do the same thing – and have not fallen victim to an Ofcom probe.
One X account shared an image of a side-by-side comparison between the different websites, captioned: “The UK Labour Government is threatening to block X but won’t say a word about ChatGPT and Gemini.”
Mr Musk replied to that saying: “They want any excuse for censorship.”
The world’s richest man then launched a volley of attacks at the Government and Prime Minister.
“Keir Starmer literally has a lower approval rating than Nicolas Maduro,” he said.
One X account shared an image of a side-by-side comparison between three different websites, captioned: ‘The UK Labour Government is threatening to block X but won’t say a word about ChatGPT and Gemini’
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‘Keir Starmer literally has a lower approval rating than Nicolas Maduro,’ Elon Musk said
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Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has vowed to back Ofcom if it decided to block X if it failed to comply with UK laws.
“Sexually manipulating images of women and children is despicable and abhorrent,” Ms Kendall said.
Ofcom itself said it was carrying out an “expedited assessment” into X and responded to an urgent contact on Monday.
By Friday, X appeared to have changed Grok’s settings.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has vowed to back Ofcom if it decided to block X
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PANon-paying users were told the bot could no longer alter images.
Ms Kendall then said it was “totally unacceptable for Grok to allow this if you’re willing to pay for it” – and revealed she was expecting an update from Ofcom in a matter of days.
Ofcom has powers under the highly controversial Online Safety Act to fine businesses up to £18million or 10 per cent of global revenue.
It can also take criminal action against them, or order payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, effectively banning them.