The UK government has issued a stark ultimatum to Elon Musk's social media platform X, demanding it tackles a surge of indecent AI-generated images or faces being effectively blocked in the country. The media watchdog, Ofcom, has confirmed it is accelerating an investigation into the platform as backlash grows over its hosting of manipulated pictures depicting partially stripped women and children.
Ofcom's Urgent Deadline and Government Backing
In a significant escalation, Ofcom stated it had contacted X on Monday, setting a firm deadline of Friday for the platform to provide urgent answers. The regulator is now conducting an expedited assessment and promises action within "days not weeks". This timeline was reinforced by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall, who warned that X needs to "get a grip and get this material down".
Kendall explicitly reminded X of the backstop powers within the Online Safety Act, which allow the regulator to compel internet service providers to block access to non-compliant platforms. She confirmed that if Ofcom decides to use these powers, it would have the government's full backing. This places X under unprecedented legal pressure in the UK.
X's Inadequate Response and Mounting Criticism
In response to the global outcry, X announced on Friday morning that it would restrict the creation of images via its Grok AI tool. The new policy limits image generation and editing to paying subscribers only, arguing that their provision of personal details would make identification easier if the function was misused.
However, this move has been widely condemned as insufficient and insulting. Downing Street labelled the change "unacceptable", stating it merely "turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service". Claire Waxman, the government's Commissioner for Victims of Crime, told The Guardian that X was no longer a "safe space" for women and was hampering efforts to tackle violence against women and girls. Her office is considering scaling back its presence on the platform.
Victims of the AI image manipulation, who have seen personal photos altered to place them in bikinis or sexually suggestive poses, said the restriction was too little, too late. Broadcaster Narinder Kaur, a victim of such abuse, argued the change meant those who pay for premium X would simply be able to "monetise this feature now".
Exodus from the Platform and Ongoing Loopholes
The controversy has triggered an exodus from X. Several women's sector organisations, including the domestic abuse charity Refuge and Women's Aid Ireland, have left the platform. Victim Support, which departed in April, stated X was "no longer the right place for us to communicate with our audiences". A growing number of MPs are also reportedly considering leaving.
Despite the new paywall, tests by researchers and users revealed significant loopholes. While requests from non-paying subscribers to "put her in a bikini" were blocked, the Grok chatbot on the main platform was also refusing some requests from premium subscribers. However, in a concerning twist, it was still obliging requests to put images of men into bikinis. Furthermore, on the separate Grok app, researchers found the chatbot was still instantly generating images of women and children in bikinis.
The platform, which has approximately 300 million monthly users but only an estimated 2.2 to 2.6 million paying subscribers, now faces a critical juncture in the UK. With Ofcom's powers to issue multimillion-pound fines and ultimately seek a block, the pressure on X to enact meaningful, not cosmetic, changes is intensifying by the day.
