UK Grok ban live: Starmer threatens Musk over X’s ‘absolutely disgusting’ actions over AI deepfakes

Keir Starmer has issued an ultimatum to Elon Musk announcing that the government will take “fast action” to deal with the abuses of Grok, the AI tool on X.

Sir Keir told MPs and peers: “The actions of Grok and X are absolutely disgusting and shameful. Protecting their abusive users, rather than the women and children who are being abused shows a total distortion of priorities.

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Sir Keir Starmer told Labour MPs that if Elon Musk’s social media site X cannot control its AI chatbot Grok, “we will”.

Addressing a meeting of backbenchers at the Parliamentary Labour Party, he said: “The actions of Grok and X are absolutely disgusting and shameful.

“Protecting their abusive users, rather than the women and children who are being abused shows a total distortion of priorities.

“So let me be crystal clear, we won’t stand for it, because no matter how unstable or complex the world becomes, this Government will be guided by its values. We’ll stand up for the vulnerable against the powerful.

“If X cannot control Grok, we will – and we’ll do it fast because if you profit from harm and abuse, you lose the right to self regulate.”

Sexualised images created by AI chatbot Grok are “weapons of abuse”, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has said, as she told MPs that creating non-consensual intimate images will become a criminal offence from this week.

It comes as media watchdog Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media platform X has breached UK law over reports that Grok was used to create and share sexualised images of children.

Ms Kendall labelled AI-generated images of women “tied up and gagged, with bruises, covered in blood and much, much more” as being “weapons of abuse”.

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The Conservatives accused the government of “appendage swinging” over a potential ban of X after its AI chatbot Grok allowing the creation of non-consensual intimate images.

Shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez welcomed action taken by Ofcom, and said her party supported the Government on nudification tools.

However she accused the government of “soft back peddling” over a purported ban, in part of her speech that was met with cries of “shame”.

Ms Lopez said: “The government’s appendage swinging over the weekend was extremely serious. Ministers mooted as an urgent remedy the banning of a site of 21 million monthly users in this country, despite another minister guffawing that banning X was conspiracy theory number 3627.”

She said despite the internet being used by criminals, websites have not been banned before. She continued: “It is an extraordinarily serious move against a platform that can be used for good, for uncovering scandal, sparking democratic revolution, and allow day-to-day the free exchange of ideas, including ideas we don’t like.”

Ms Lopez said taking action on X could lead to regulators not pursuing other abhorrent and dangerous crimes. She added: “(Ms Kendall) has said the Government is as determined to ensure women and girls are safe online as we are to ensure that they are safe in the real world.

“To this end, will she be ensuring that the government enforces against itself for its failure to advance the rape gang inquiry. Its failure to stop puberty-blocking trials, its failure to implement single-sex spaces, its inability to deport illegal migrants who have committed sex offences.”

As women abandon X because of its use to generate non-consensual sexual imagery, the danger is not just what happens to those who stay, but what happens when abusers are left alone on the platform, says Olivia Petter.

Baroness Kidron has said that “offering a premium service that strips women and girls to bikinis is a new low for X and (Elon) Musk”.

The independent crossbench peer, who founded the non-governmental organisation 5Rights which looks at the impact of technology on children, continued: “It is time to introduce minimum standards of terms of service in the UK that includes meeting our standards and values as set out in online safety and data legislation.

“Winning a race or playing in the garden and posting an image, ending up as child sexual abuse, violence abuse is an affront.

“I have called on government to either use Online Safety Act or fill a gap if they cannot. We need enforcement to move fast.”

Lady Kidron also said: “There is no reason to invent a technical way to strip women. That is abhorrent.”

Lady Kidron sat in a side gallery to watch Technology Secretary Liz Kendall make a statement on “non-consensual sexual deepfakes” in the Commons.

A leading expert on violence against women and girls has said that while Ofcom’s investigation is “very welcome”, it is vital that it reaches a quick solution so X’s Grok can no longer produce this material.

Speaking to The Independent, Durham University law professor Clare McGlynn said: “I think some of that discussion about the ban is in some ways a distraction. What Ofcom and the government need to focus on is just trying to get the changes that are needed on the ground without trying to wage war on the platform.

“The most important thing is the changes on the ground. The arguments, (with) Elon Musk throwing his toys out of the pram and talking about free speech, this whole experience, is women’s speech being hindered. I find it really ironic that Musk talks about him being the protector of free speech when he’s the one who has been shutting it down.”

The government will criminalise apps which allow users to create nude fake images of people, Liz Kendall told the Commons.

The technology secretary said: “I can today confirm that we will build on all the measures I have already outlined and legislate in the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, to criminalise nudification apps.

“This new criminal offence will make it make it illegal for companies to supply tools designed to create non-consensual internet images, targeting the problem at its source.”

She later said that the government’s actions were “not as some would claim about restricting freedom of speech”, adding: “It is about tackling violence against women and girls, it’s about upholding basic British values of decency and respect and ensuring the standards we expect offline are upheld online, and it is about exercising our sovereign power and responsibility to uphold the laws of this land.”

The government “will of course keep our participation on X under review”, Ms Kendall told MPs.

However, she also appeared to suggest ministers saw the social media site as a valuable communication tool, adding: “I think it’s also worth bearing in mind, with 19 million people on X in this country, and more than a quarter of them saying that they use it as their primary source of news, that our views and often simply the facts, need to be heard wherever possible.”

Ofcom’s investigation into Elon Musk’s Grok AI must not take “months and months”, the technology secretary has warned.

Liz Kendall told the Commons: “The Government expects Ofcom to set out a timeline for the investigation as soon as possible. The public, and most importantly the victims of Grok’s activities, expect swift and decisive action. So this must not take months and months.

“But X does not have to wait for the Ofcom investigation to conclude. They can choose to act sooner to ensure this abhorrent and illegal material cannot be shared on their platform. If they do not, Ofcom will have the backing of this Government to use the full powers which Parliament has given them.

“I would remind X and all other platforms that this includes the power to issue fines of up to 10% of the company’s worldwide and qualifying revenue.”