Elon Musk has accused the UK government of seeking to suppress free speech after ministers threatened fines and a possible ban for his social media platform X. The threat follows the use of X's artificial intelligence tool, Grok, to create non-consensual sexual images of women and children.
The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, said on Friday that ministers were seriously considering barring access to X in the UK if the platform failed to remove the image generation function. Ofcom, the media regulator, is seeking urgent answers from X and is expected to announce action within days.
Thousands of women have been targeted using Grok, which was initially used to digitally strip clothed photographs into revealing images. The tool was then employed for extreme manipulation, including adding bruising, blood, and depictions of violence. Images of teenage girls and children were altered, with experts warning that some content could be classified as child sexual abuse material.
Musk responded to the government’s threats by posting on X: “They just want to suppress free speech.” He also claimed that Grok had become the most downloaded app on the UK App Store on Friday night. Some right-wing figures, including former prime minister Liz Truss, echoed Musk’s free speech argument, stating: “Starmer is really losing it now.”
X partially restricted access to Grok on Friday, limiting its image generation capability to paid subscribers. However, the Grok app itself still allows the creation of sexually explicit material. Labour MP Jess Asato, a campaigner against sexual abuse, called for urgent legislation to ban such ‘nudification’ apps, noting that similar adverts had appeared on YouTube. Google confirmed it had permanently suspended the advertiser’s account.
The UK government’s concerns were echoed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who described the misuse of generative AI as “abhorrent”. The Online Safety Act gives the government backstop powers to block services that refuse to comply with the law, and Kendall has warned X to “get a grip” or face consequences.
