Minister says X could face ban in UK over deepfakes

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would support regulator Ofcom blocking UK access to Elon Musk's social media site X for not complying with online safety laws.

Ofcom said it had made an urgent decision to digitally disrobe X Company's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok without consent if it was tagged under an image posted on the platform.

X currently limits this image feature to those who pay a monthly fee.

But Downing Street claimed the changes were an “insult” to victims of sexual violence, and domestic violence charities accused them of “monetizing abuse”.

“Sexually manipulating the image of women and children is despicable and abhorrent,” Kendall said.

He added: “I, and more importantly the public, expect Ofcom to provide an update on its next steps within days, not weeks.”

She said the Online Safety Act “includes powers to block access to services in the UK if you refuse to comply with UK law” and added: “If Ofcom decides to exercise those powers, we will fully support them.”

The BBC has contacted X for comment.

A spokesperson for Ofcom said: “We have contacted them urgently.” [with X] Set a firm deadline of today on Monday [Friday] We asked them to explain themselves, and we received a response. ”

“We are currently conducting a rapid assessment as a matter of urgency and will provide further updates shortly.”

Ofcom's powers under the Online Safety Act include the ability to seek a court order to block third-party funding or access 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 politicians from all walks of life, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling it “disgraceful” and “disgusting”.

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Reform Party, said this was “terrible in every sense of the word” and that X “needs to go further” than the changes it made to Grok earlier on Friday.

But he said the idea of ​​banning X in the UK was “frankly appalling” and an attack on free speech.

The Liberal Democrats have called for access to X to be temporarily restricted in the UK while the social media site is investigated.

Grok is a free tool that allows users to ask for specific responses by tagging them directly in posts or replying below other users' posts.

This tool can edit images on X even when accessed from other areas of the platform, such as the built-in “image editing” feature or from another app or website.

People who have received such requests have also received numerous requests to edit images of women to show them in bikinis or scantily clad clothing, and told the BBC they felt “humiliated” and “dehumanised”.

But as of Friday morning, Grok told users seeking to modify images uploaded to X that “image generation and editing is currently limited to paid subscribers,” adding that users “can subscribe to unlock these features.”

Some posts on the platform seen by BBC News suggest that only those marked as “confirmed” with a blue checkmark (exclusive to paid X subscribers) were able to successfully request an image edit from Grok.

Dr Daisy Dixon, a philosophy lecturer at Cardiff University and a female X user, said more people were using Grok to undress, and welcomed the change, but said it felt “like putting a band-aid on it”.

“Grok needs to be completely redesigned to include ethical guardrails to ensure something like this never happens again,” she told the BBC.

“Elon Musk also needs to acknowledge this for what it is: another example of gender-based violation.”

“It doesn't undo the harm that's been done,” said Hannah Swirsky, director of policy at the Internet Watch Foundation.

“We believe it is not enough to simply restrict access to tools that should never have the ability to create the images we have seen in recent days,” she said.

The charity previously announced that its analysts had discovered “criminal images” of girls aged between 11 and 13 that “were believed to have been created” using Grok.

Labor MPs are increasingly unhappy with the party's use of X to convey a political message.

Messages leaked from the Parliamentary Labor Party WhatsApp group, which was used by backbench Labor MPs to post announcements to share on social media, have emerged as at least 13 Labor MPs calling on the government to stop using the platform.

The message, first reported by Politics Home and seen by BBC News, shows Labor MPs asking the government to “take a stand” and “get our message heard elsewhere”.

“Our government should start using a different platform, as some of us have been demanding since Mr. Musk went full-on fascist instead of X,” said one lawmaker.

Another said: “If there are images of children (and women) in government communications about X, those children will be harmed.”

Earlier on Friday, Downing Street indicated the government would continue posting to X.

The prime minister's official spokesperson told reporters that changes to the way Grok responds to user requests to edit images on the platform showed that X “can move quickly when it wants to.”

They said, “It is clear that X needs to act, and he needs to act now.”

“It's time for Company X to get serious about this issue. If another media company had placed a billboard with illegal images in a city center, it would have to remove the ad immediately or face public backlash,” they added.