People who create or try to create non-consensual intimate images will be committing a crime from this week amid an explosion of sexualised deepfakes on Elon Musk’s X
People who create or try to create non-consensual intimate images will be committing a crime from this week amid an explosion of sexualised deepfakes on Elon Musk’s X.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said images made by X’s AI chatbot Grok are “weapons of abuse”, as Ofcom launched a formal investigation into the social media platform.
In a statement to the Commons today, she told MPs that a law making it illegal to create or seek to create non-consensual, intimate images will come into force this week.
And she said apps that allow users to create nude fake images of people will be criminalised under the Crime and Policing Bill, which is progressing through Parliament. The new criminal offence will make it illegal for companies to supply tools designed to create non-consensual internet images, in the hopes it will target the problem at its source.
Meanwhile, media watchdog Ofcom said its probe will establish whether X has failed to comply with its legal obligation under the Online Safety Act. If it has, Ofcom can fine X – formerly known as Twitter – up to £18million or up to 10% of its global revenue. It can also impose other business disruption measures, such as requiring payment providers or advertising services to withdraw from the site.
READ MORE: UK regulator launches probe into Elon Musk’s X over Grok deepfake images
Ms Kendall told MPs: “We’ve seen reports of photos being shared of women in bikinis, tied up and gagged, with bruises, covered in blood, and much, much more. Lives can and have been devastated by this content which is designed to harass, torment and violate people’s dignity. They are not harmless images. They’re weapons of abuse, disproportionately aimed at women and girls, and they are illegal.”
Ms Kendall warned Ofcom that its investigation must not take “months and months”. “The public and most importantly, the victims of Grok’s activities expect swift and decisive action, so this must not take months and months,” she said. “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.”
Ms Kendall added that the Government “will of course keep our participation on X under review”, after some MPs called for Labour to stop using the social media platform.
At a Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, Keir Starmer told MPs: “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.”
Ofcom last week made “urgent contact” with Musk’s X and xAI over “serious concerns” its AI tool, Grok, has made sexualised images of kids on the platform. It said it was aware of a feature on Grok, a chatbot developed by xAI, that creates undressed images of people and sexualised images of children.
In an update, an Ofcom spokesman said: “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. We’ll progress this investigation as a matter of the highest priority, while ensuring we follow due process.”
Last week the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a child sexual abuse watchdog, said its analysts have discovered “criminal imagery” of children aged between 11 and 13 which appears to have been created using Grok. It said it had seen the imagery, including sexualised and topless content of girls, on a dark web forum where users claimed they used Grok to create it.
A post on Grok’s X account earlier this month admitted the company has “identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them—CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is illegal and prohibited”. And Musk said: “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
On Friday, X announced Grok will make creating deepfakes a “premium service”, where users must pay to use it. No10 dismissed the response as “an insult to victims of misogyny and sexual violence”, while Ms Kendall likened the approach to “monetising abuse”.
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