Elon Musk rips apart Keir Starmer’s Government in rant branding UK ‘fascist’ | Politics | News
Elon Musk has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s government of being “fascist” in the ongoing debate over sexualised images generated by AI on X. Ministers recently stepped up threats to ban the social media platform owned by the world’s richest man after its AI feature Grok created fake images of people, including children.
But Musk argued that critics “want any excuse for censorship” and claimed that other AI programs were creating sexually explicit images of women in bikinis. In another post on X, responding to a chart showing arrest figures for online posts with the UK at the top, he wrote: “Why is the UK government so fascist?”
Criticism of X centered on Grok producing child abuse images and manipulating photos of real women and girls to remove their clothing.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has said she would support the regulator if Ofcom decides to effectively block the social media platform over its failure to comply with UK law.
He said: “The sexual manipulation of women and children is despicable and disgusting.”
Ofcom said it carried out an “expedited assessment” after xAI, the creator of X and Grok, responded to communication from the regulator.
It has the power to fine businesses up to £18 million or 10% of global revenue and take criminal action under the Online Safety Act.
The regulator can also order payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, effectively banning it, but this requires approval from the courts.
In response, Mr Musk shared a post from US legislator Anna Paulina Luna threatening to impose sanctions on both Sir Keir and the UK if X is blocked.
X appeared to change Grok’s settings on Friday because he said only paid subscribers could ask him to change images.
However, reports suggested that this only applies to those who made requests in response to other posts. Other ways to edit or create images remain open, including a separate Grok website.
Ms Kendall said it was “absolutely unacceptable for Grok to allow this if you are prepared to pay the price”, adding that an update on Ofcom’s next steps was expected “within days, not weeks”.
He also highlighted plans to ban nudity practices as part of the Crime and Policing Bill passing Parliament, and said powers to criminalize the creation of intimate images without consent would come into force in the coming weeks.
