X could ‘lose right to self regulate’, says Starmer

The UK will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, following widespread concerns over Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot.

Speaking to Labour MPs on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer warned X could lose the “right to self regulate”.

“If X cannot control Grok, we will”, he said, saying the government would act quickly in response to the issue.

The government also plans to unveil legislation to make it illegal to supply online tools used to create such images.

The BBC has approached X for comment. It previously said: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”

It comes hours after Ofcom announced it was launching an investigation into X over “deeply concerning reports” about Grok altering images of people.

If found to have broken the law, Ofcom can potentially issue X with a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million, whichever is greater.

And if X does not comply, Ofcom can seek a court order to force internet service providers to block access to the site in the UK altogether.

In a statement, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall urged the regulator not to take “months and months” to conclude its investigation, and demanded it set out a timeline “as soon as possible”.

It is currently illegal to share deepfakes of adults in the UK, but legislation in the Data (Use and Access) Act which would make it a criminal offence to create or request them has not been enforced until now, despite passing in June 2025.

Last week, campaigners accused the government of dragging its heels on implementing that law.

Liz Kendall told the Commons that the offence “will be brought into force this week”. In addition to the Data Act, Kendall said she would also make it a “priority offence” in the Online Safety Act.

Kendall said AI-generated pictures of women and children in states of undress, created without a person’s consent, were not “harmless images” but “weapons of abuse”.

“The content which has circulated on X is vile. It’s not just an affront to decent society, it is illegal,” she said.

“Let me be crystal clear – under the Online Safety Act, sharing intimate images of people without their consent, or threatening to share them, including pictures of people in their underwear, is a criminal offence for individuals and for platforms.

“This means 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.”

But the technology secretary said the “responsibilities do not just lie with individuals for their own behaviour” – and “the platforms that host such material must be held accountable, including X”.

She said the government would also build on measures outlined in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise nudification apps.

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

“In addition to all of these actions, we expect technology companies to introduce the steps recommended by Ofcom’s guidance on how to make platforms safer for women and girls without delay.

“If they do not, I am prepared to go further.”

Legal expert Jamie Hurworth said Kendall’s comments were “an indicator of how seriously the government are now taking this issue”.

“It remains to be seen whether an overstretched police force has sufficient resources to investigate and bring perpetrators before the courts but it is important that each link in the chain – from individual creators to social media platforms – is held to account for their involvement in this type of behaviour.”

Ofcom’s investigation will examine whether X has failed to take down illegal content quickly when it became aware of it, and taken “appropriate steps” to prevent people in the UK from seeing it.

The decision follows a global backlash over Grok’s image creation feature, with both Malaysia and Indonesia temporarily blocking access to the tool over the weekend.

An Ofcom spokesperson did not give an indication on how long the investigation would take but said it would be a “matter of the highest priority”.

In a response to an earlier post questioning why other AI platforms were not being looked at, Elon Musk said the UK government wanted “any excuse for censorship”.

But Kendall refuted this.

“This is not, as some would claim, about restricting freedom of speech,” she said.

“It is about tackling violence against women and girls.”

Shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez welcomed Ofcom’s investigation, and said her party supported the government on nudification tools.

But she criticised the government over comments Kendall made last week, when she said she would back Ofcom if it blocked UK access to X for failing to comply with laws.

Ms Lopez said despite the internet being used by criminals before, websites have not been banned before.

“It is an extraordinarily serious move against a platform that can be used for good, for uncovering scandal, sparking democratic revolution, and allowing day-to-day the free exchange of ideas, including ideas we don’t like.”