The UK will this week make it a criminal offence to create non-consensual intimate images, after Ofcom threatened Elon Musk’s platform X with a ban or a multimillion-pound fine over sexualised deepfakes linked to its AI chatbot Grok.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall told the House of Commons the government will ban the creation and supply of tools designed to make “vile” non-consensual sexual material.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said: “I will make it a priority offence in the Online Safety Act. Individuals are committing a criminal offence if they create or seek to create such content, including on X. And anyone who does this should expect to face the full extent of the law.”
Kendall said the government would use the crime and policing bill moving through parliament to criminalise nudification apps, taking aim at the greasy little services built for turning clothed photos into fake nudes.
Ofcom, Britain’s media regulator, has opened a formal investigation into Grok and raised concerns it was being used for potential “intimate image abuse” and “child sex abuse material”.
Ofcom said: “Reports of Grok being used to create and share illegal non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse material on X have been deeply concerning.
“Platforms must protect people in the UK from content that’s illegal in the UK, and we won’t hesitate to investigate where we suspect companies are failing in their duties, especially where there’s a risk of harm to children.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Labour MPs on Monday evening that “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”.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it has previously insisted it takes “action against illegal content”. It added: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
Ofcom last week launched a fast-track review into X after Grok was used to generate thousands of sexualised images of women wearing lingerie and bikinis without their consent, alongside extreme images of teenage girls and children.
Under the Online Safety Act, enforced in phases, the watchdog can apply to the courts to block X or fine the group the higher of £18mn (€21.1mn) or up to a tenth of its global revenues, if it finds X has not done enough to stop illegal content or prevent children from seeing more than-18 material.
The investigation will look at six areas, including whether X has carried out the necessary risk assessments, whether it has acted quickly enough to take down images and whether children could have seen the material.
Ministers have already said they would support Ofcom’s decision, even though the regulator is independent of government while still accountable to parliament, which is Whitehall’s favourite sort of arm’s-length muscle.
Asked in the Commons if she thought Ofcom had the resources to take on “tech titans” such as X, Kendall said: “This is a real test case and people want to see action. Ofcom needs to get people’s trust.”
Launching a formal investigation is the next step in Ofcom’s process to gather evidence for a case against X, but it will disappoint politicians who wanted harder measures or emergency powers.
Malaysia and Indonesia became the first countries to block access to Grok at the weekend over concerns it could be used to produce pornographic and non-consensual images involving women and children.
Kendall’s new law promise and Ofcom’s probe are likely to spark an angry response from Musk, X’s owner, who has already accused the UK government of trying to suppress free speech, and it could also draw heat from Donald Trump’s administration.
Sarah Rogers, US under-secretary for public diplomacy, accused the UK of “contemplating a Russia-style X ban” this weekend.
Last week, X partially restricted Grok to paying subscribers, but plenty of people remained furious that extreme image manipulation was still available to anyone with a card and no shame.
UK ministers are also under pressure to remove official communications from the platform, but Kendall defended staying put, saying it helps ministers connect with voters.
