Republican, Anna Paulina Luna has vowed to ‘sanction not only Starmer, but Britain as a whole’ and warned ‘there will be consequences’ if Elon Musk’s platform, X gets banned
A major MAGA congresswoman has warned Keir Starmer that “there will be consequences” if he bans X in Britain. Florida Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna took to Elon Musk’s social media platform, X threatening to sanction “not only Starmer, but Britain as a whole.”
She wrote: “If Starmer is successful in banning X in Britain, I will move forward with legislation that is currently being drafted to sanction not only Starmer, but Britain as a whole.
“This would mirror actions previously taken by the United States in response to foreign governments restricting the platform, including the dispute with Brazil in 2024–2025, which resulted in tariffs, visa revocations, and sanctions and consequences tied to free speech concerns against Brazilian officials over concerns related to censorship and free-speech violations.
“Starmer should reconsider this course of action, or there will be consequences.”
She adds: “There are always technical bugs during the early phases of new technology, especially AI, and those issues are typically addressed quickly. X treats these matters seriously and acts promptly.
“Let’s be clear: this is not about technical compliance. This is a political war against Elon Musk and free speech—nothing more.”
Luna is known for sending conservative social media mad. Back in 2016, she made her first boom into the political sphere – grabbing headlines when she posed in a MAGA (Make America Great Again) swimsuit.
Her threat comes after Downing Street said changes to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok only serve to make creating deepfakes a “premium service” and are “insulting” to victims of misogyny and sexual violence.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said changes to limit usage of chatbot Grok’s image editing tool to paying users are “not a solution” but do prove that social media site X can move quickly when it wants to.
The move comes after regulator Ofcom said it made “urgent contact” with X, which created the integrated AI chatbot, following reports users have prompted the tool to generate sexualised images of people, including children.
Grok is now telling people making such requests that only paid subscribers are able to do so – meaning their name and payment information must be on file.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “That move… that simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service.
“It’s not a solution. In fact, it’s insulting the victims of misogyny and sexual violence. What it does prove is that X can move swiftly when it wants to do so”
“You heard the Prime Minister yesterday. He was abundantly clear that X needs to act and needs to act now, it is time for X to grip this issue.
“If another media company had billboards in town centres showing unlawful images, it would act immediately to take them down or face public backlash.”
He reiterated that “all options” are on the table including for Ofcom to use its powers to “take any action”.
Asked about Anna Paulina Luna’s threat if the UK bans X, the No 10 spokesman said the Government is focusing on stopping the creation of unlawful images on the site.
The spokesman would not be drawn on whether the Government might heed calls to boycott X and said the focus at this time is “stopping these abhorrent images”.
He seemed to suggest that the Government would defer to Ofcom on what action to take.
Sir Keir and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall have backed the regulator to take any enforcement action deemed necessary.
Ofcom has powers under the Online Safety Act to fine businesses or take criminal action.
It can also order payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, effectively banning them, though this would require agreement from the courts.
X has said it takes action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, “by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary”.
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