- British officials are weighing a ban on access to X amid safety concerns over its AI chatbot, Grok.
- Keir Starmer has asked regulator Ofcom to consider all options, citing illegal images generated by the bot.
- Authorities say Grok produced thousands of explicit deepfakes, including images of public figures and civilians.
- The Online Safety Act gives officials powers including fines of billions of pounds (about $1.3 billion per £1 billion) or blocking services that fail to remove illegal content.
- Elon Musk has criticized the law as *“the suppression of the people”* and has directed xAI staff to loosen guardrails on Grok; he has not publicly responded to the potential ban.
British officials are considering a ban on access to X in the United Kingdom after reports that the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, generated child sexual abuse images and thousands of explicit deepfakes. The move follows warnings that illegal images created by Grok were shared on a dark web forum and that civilians and public figures were targeted by the bot.
Keir Starmer asked regulator Ofcom to keep “all options to be on the table” as ministers review the response. “This is disgraceful. It’s disgusting, and it’s not to be tolerated,” he said, and added, “X needs to get their act together and get this material down – and we will take action on this because it’s simply not tolerable.”
Officials point to the powers available under the Online Safety Act, including fines running into billions of pounds (about $1.3 billion per £1 billion) and the ability to block access to services that repeatedly fail to remove illegal content such as child abuse images or revenge porn. X reports roughly 650 million global users, including about 20 million in the U.K.
The watchdog’s findings add to reports that Grok produced thousands of explicit deepfake images of civilians and high-profile figures, including members of the royal family, ministers and celebrities. Regulators and ministers say that such material could meet the legal test for illegal child sexual abuse material when children are depicted.
Elon Musk has publicly criticised the Online Safety Act, calling it “the suppression of the people”, and he has told xAI staff to reduce content guardrails, saying he was “unhappy about over-censoring.” He has not commented on the reported consideration of a ban.
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