The UK government aims to expedite the passing and enforcement of legislation to combat sexualised deep fakes following the launch of a formal investigation into X’s Grok AI.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said in the House of Commons that she will bring into force a new offence this week that makes it illegal to create or request the creation of non-consensual intimate images. Kendall also said this would become a “priority offence in the Online Safety Act too”.
The UK government has been heavily critical of Elon Musk’s social media platform X after it was revealed that its internal AI chatbot Grok was being used to make sexualised deepfakes.
“The content which has circulated on X is vile. It is not just an affront to decent society, it is illegal,” Kendall said.
“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 are weapons of abuse, disproportionately aimed at women and girls and they are illegal.”
The minister confirmed that Ofcom has launched a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act and has warned the platform that it may be issued “fines worth millions of dollars” and, should the investigation determine it necessary, “Ofcom can apply for a court order to stop UK users accessing the site”.
Kendall told the House that the government aims to rapidly criminalise companies supplying tools to create non-consensual intimate images and has urged tech firms to implement strong safeguards.
She added that while there are no plans currently for the government to withdraw from using X as a communications platform, the decision is “under review”.
