The British Government May Block Access to X

The British government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is launching a frontal attack against X. The goal is for the platform to lose its “right to self-regulate” or, in the worst case, to block access entirely.

This comes after Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, which is integrated into an X account, has become increasingly advanced and can now create far more sophisticated images, prompting the British government to consider how to handle the platform.

In a statement to Labour parliamentarians on Monday, Keir Starmer warned that X could lose its “right to self-regulate” and announced plans to make it illegal to create intimate images without consent. The government also plans to introduce legislation making it illegal to provide online tools used to generate such images.

“If X can’t control Grok, then we will,” he said, adding that the government would act swiftly.

Starmer’s plans come just after Ofcom, the UK’s independent communications regulator, announced it is launching an investigation into X due to “deeply troubling reports” about Grok manipulating images of people.

If X/Grok is found to have broken the law, Ofcom can impose fines of up to ten percent of the company’s :censored:6:cdd6bbaa89: 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 platform entirely within the UK.

Political Pressure

Technology Minister Liz Kendall urges Ofcom not to take “months and months” to complete its investigation and demands the establishment of a timetable “as soon as possible”.

Liz Kendall told the House of Commons that the offense will “come into force this week”. In addition to the data law, Kendall said she would also make it a “priority offense” in the online safety legislation. AI-generated images of women and children depicted without consent, she argues, are not “harmless images” but “weapons of abuse”.

Liz Kendall. Photo: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street, OGL 3

“The content that has circulated on X is abhorrent. It’s not just an insult to a decent society, it is illegal,” she says.

If platforms are not made safer for women and girls, Kendall says she is “prepared to move forward”.

Focus on Musk

Responding to a previous post where he asked why other AI platforms are not being scrutinized, Elon Musk claimed that the British government wants “any excuse for censorship”.

Journalist and social commentator Henrik Alexandersson, from the non-profit 5th of July Foundation, questions why British authorities are putting so much focus on X since the same kind of images can also be created with other AI tools—or with Photoshop. Alexandersson also notes that it could result in the UK blocking X entirely, a move he considers a mistake with potentially dramatic consequences.

Today, X is one of the world’s leading news channels, and it often features content that traditional media choose not to report, Alexandersson points out.

Previously, EU politicians and bureaucrats have also clashed with X and Elon Musk. Musk’s purchase of what was then Twitter, the revelations about how conservatives had been silenced and censored, and his decision to open up the debate enraged many politicians on the left, who have since done their utmost to smear the platform.