Elon Musk’s Ax is “not doing enough to keep its customers safe online”, a minister has said, as the UK government prepares to outline possible action against the platform over the mass production of sexual images of women and children.
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the government would fully support any action taken by media regulator Ofcom against X – including the possibility that the platform could be blocked in the UK.
Kyle said Ofcom had received the sought information from
Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, who said on Friday she expected action from Ofcom within days, is due to give a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon.
Kyle told Sky News: “Let me be really clear about Ax: Ax is not doing enough to keep its customers safe online.”
In a subsequent interview on BBC One’s Breakfast programme, Kyle said it was “appalling” that Ax had not properly tested Grok, given its ability to manipulate images and its potential impact on women. He said, “The fact that I just yesterday met a Jewish woman who had her image generated by AI and posted online in a bikini outside Auschwitz makes me feel sick to my stomach.”
“And the fact that there are people who are running and designing these materials, putting it on the Internet, without checking what impact it will have on their customers and their service users and society as a whole, I think is a real concern.”
After Ofcom requested information from Ax, the company provided it and the regulator was conducting what Kyle described as “a quick investigation”.
He said: “They have a range of powers that go from imposing huge, hefty fines to banning
Any move to block X, which would require a court order, would likely draw significant backlash from Musk and Donald Trump’s administration.
Musk, who frequently posts far-right and ethno-nationalist content, has previously urged Britons to “fight back” against Keir Starmer’s government, which he describes as hostile to free speech.
On Sunday, a Trump administration official focused on free speech compared Britain’s potential action against Ax to censorship in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
In one of several posts on the issue, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers said the UK government was “considering Russia-style @X sanctions”.
Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom can force platforms to address such content and issue fines of several million pounds for lack of compliance, with the final sanction taking the form of a court order requiring internet providers to block a site or app entirely.
On Friday, X announced that the ability to create and edit images “will be limited to paying customers”. Downing Street described the move as unacceptable and said it merely turns an AI feature that allows the creation of illegal images into a premium service.
