The UK government is considering a complete ban on the use of Elon Musk's social media platform X for official communications, following revelations that its integrated artificial intelligence chatbot was exploited to generate sexualised deepfake imagery of children.
Ofcom's Urgent Intervention and Government Fury
This potential boycott comes after the UK's media regulator, Ofcom, made "urgent contact" with both X and Musk's AI firm, xAI, on Monday, 7th January 2026. The regulator expressed "serious concerns" that xAI's chatbot, Grok, had been used to create illegal and abusive content on the platform.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister condemned the situation in stark terms, stating: "What we've seen on Grok is a disgrace. It is completely unacceptable." The spokesman emphasised that "all options were on the table" regarding the government's future use of X, mirroring the existing ban on TikTok for government devices.
Ministers Back Regulator's Power to Act
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall directly ordered X to address the crisis "urgently" and gave her full support to Ofcom to take enforcement action. She declared: "Make no mistake - the UK will not tolerate the endless proliferation of disgusting and abusive material online."
Ofcom holds significant power in this scenario, with the authority to levy fines of up to billions of pounds or even block access to sites found to be violating UK law. The government's backing signals a firm stance, with Downing Street confirming that Ofcom has "our full backing to take enforcement action wherever firms are failing to protect UK users."
XAI's Response and Ongoing Safeguard Failures
The controversy centres on a feature within Grok that users manipulated to produce images of children "in minimal clothing". In a post on Friday, the official Grok account on X admitted the company had "identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them", explicitly noting that child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is illegal.
Elon Musk responded on Saturday, stating: "Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content." xAI, in response to the government's criticism, claimed it is "actively enhancing Grok's safeguards" to block inappropriate prompts and is committed to regulatory compliance.
The firm released a new version of Grok on Wednesday, 10th January 2026, urging users to update, though the specific security improvements were not detailed. This incident places immense pressure on X and xAI to demonstrate rapid and effective changes to prevent further abuse of its AI tools, under the watchful eye of UK authorities.
