PM calls on X to comply with UK laws ‘immediately’ amid row over Grok deepfakes

Social media platform X must act to comply with UK laws “immediately”, the Prime Minister has said as he welcomed reports the company had imposed new restrictions on its AI chatbot Grok.

Sir Keir Starmer said he was “glad” Elon Musk’s firm had taken action on the “absolutely disgusting” images Grok had generated, but vowed “we’re not going to let this go”.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister said free speech “is not the freedom to violate consent”, adding: “Young women’s images are not public property, and their safety is not up for debate.”

The post was his first on the site since January 8, when he appeared to step back from using X amid a row over Grok’s production of sexualised images of women and children.

On Wednesday night, X said it would prevent Grok “editing images of people in revealing clothes” and block users from generating similar images of real people in countries where it is illegal.

The move follows mounting pressure on X over images produced by Grok, including an Ofcom investigation in the UK and bans in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Sir Keir told broadcasters during a visit to Scotland: “Those images, sexualised images, were disgusting, absolutely disgusting, and we made it clear that we wouldn’t tolerate them and that we wouldn’t back down.

“So I am glad that action has now been taken. But we’re not going to let this go. We will continue because this is a values argument.

“It’s about vulnerable people with a Government that stands with those vulnerable people against very rich companies that have weaponised these images.

“So, I’m really glad that we’ve got to where we’ve got to, but it’s a real statement of intent and value, so far as I’m concerned.”

On X, the Prime Minister said: “I welcome that X is now acting to ensure full compliance with UK law – it must happen immediately.

“If we need to strengthen existing laws further, we are prepared to do that.”

The Labour leader also signalled his openness to an Australia-style social media ban for young people, telling reporters: “We need to better protect children from social media.

“We’re looking at what’s happening in Australia, but all options are on the table in relation to what further protections we can put in place, whether that’s under-16s on social media, all options on the table.

“Or an issue I’m very concerned about, which is under-fives and screen time. And we’re the first government to take action in relation to that, because children are turning up at school aged four, to reception, having spent far too much time on screen.”

Earlier, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would not rest “until all social media platforms meet their legal duties”, while Downing Street sources said the change was a “vindication” for the Prime Minister’s tough stance on X.

Ofcom also welcomed the new restrictions, but said its investigation – launched on Monday – will continue as it seeks “answers into what went wrong and what’s being done to fix it”.

X owner Mr Musk had previously claimed Grok would refuse to produce illegal content and appeared to blame “adversarial hacking” for the chatbot’s generation of sexualised images.

In a statement posted on X, the company later said it would “geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal”.

Geoblocking prevents access to a feature for people based in particular countries, but the change still leaves open the possibility that it could be circumvented with a VPN.

The company said: “This adds an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable.”

The restriction will apply to all users, including paid subscribers, while image editing and creation will be limited to premium users.

Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said X’s response “shows how victims of abuse, campaigners and a show of strength from governments can force tech platforms to take action”.

And she called for more proactive measures from the Government to protect women and girls online, saying social media platforms could not be “left to regulate themselves”.

She said: “The cost of inaction is too great, with countless women and girls harmed before Grok’s image generation tools were disabled.

“We expect the Government to do more to ensure tech platforms can’t profit from online abuse.”