UK ministers are considering abandoning X as a result of controversy over the platform’s AI tool, which is allowing users to create digitally altered photos of people, including children, by removing their clothes.
Anna Turley, chair of the Labor Party and minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office, said on Friday that talks were taking place within the government and Labor about the continued use of the social media platform, which is controlled by Elon Musk.
Pressure on the government to drop
Turley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “First and foremost, X has got to get his act together and stop this. He has the powers to do that, and we need to make sure there are concrete consequences for this.
He said: “It’s really important that we deal with this. This conversation is happening across government. I think in politics we are all evaluating the use of social media and how we do it, and I know that conversation is happening.”
Asked whether she would personally leave the site, Turley said: “I’ve thought about it a lot over the last few months.” Asked whether the Labor Party would do that, he said: “Those conversations are happening because it’s really important that we make sure we’re in a safe place.”
On Friday, X said it was limiting use of Grok’s image creation tool to paid users only.
The government has so far resisted calls to block use of social media platforms, instead focusing on giving media regulator Ofcom the powers to take action against exes under the Online Safety Act.
Those powers include blocking the company from access to certain technology and funding, which could amount to a de facto ban in the UK.
Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, said on Thursday: “X needs to get a handle on this. And Ofcom has our full support in taking action regarding this. It’s wrong. It’s illegal. We won’t tolerate it. I’ve asked for all options to be put on the table.”
Some key MPs and committees have announced they will stop using X, including the Women and Equalities Committee, whose chair Sarah Owen said this week that the site was “not an appropriate platform to use for our communications”.
Former transport secretary Louise Haigh on Thursday called on the government to abandon the platform, saying it would be “unconscionable” to use it “for another minute”.
However, others are urging the government to stay on the site, which they say has more than 500 million monthly active users and remains one of the world’s largest social media platforms.
James Lyons, Starmer’s former communications director, Told the PoliticsHome Podcast This week: “I believe your job in political communications is to persuade people.
“And to persuade people, you have to get involved, and I think you should use all platforms and forums to do that.”
No major parties have yet left the site.
Asked this week whether he would stop taking payments from Ax for his posts, the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, declined to answer, saying he was “very concerned” about the images on the site but believed the company would listen to criticism.
