Commons women and equalities committee to stop using X amid AI-altered images row | X

The influential Commons women and equalities committee decided to stop using X after the social media site’s AI tool began digitally altering thousands of images of women and children stripped of their clothing.

The move by the cross-party committee puts fresh pressure on ministers to take decisive action after the site was flooded with images, including sexualized and nude images of children, created by artificial intelligence tool Grok.

Labor MP Sarah Owen, who chairs the committee, said it was “increasingly clear that X is not an appropriate platform to use for our communications”, given that preventing violence against women and girls is a key policy area.

Technology secretary Liz Kendall described the footage as “appalling and unacceptable in a decent society” and called on Britain’s media regulator Ofcom to take whatever action is necessary.

Speaking on Wednesday, Keir Starmer’s spokesman said “all options are on the table” for Ofcom, which has the power to impose large fines or restrict access to a site.

The decision by the women and equalities committee is the first significant move by a Westminster organization to leave X. It is understood that the committee took this decision at its meeting on Wednesday. X, which has nearly 27,000 followers, will keep his account active but dormant to ensure no one else takes it over.

Although the decision concerns only the committee’s calculations, some members, including Owen, have already stopped using X. Another, Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, said she was leaving the platform, calling the images created by Grok “the last straw”.

Jardine said he takes the view that X is a good way to communicate with voters. “But I cannot in good conscience continue to use a platform that appears unwilling to take action against this grossly offensive and abusive online behavior against women and girls.”

Owen also plans to call for action against X by the Cabinet Office and Ofcom. He said: “I personally left X after the platform and its owner encouraged and paid creators of far-right, racist and misogynistic material. “The committee heard at the end of last year that X posts regularly breached hate speech legislation in the UK following investigations into community cohesion.

“In recent days,

“We do not consider it appropriate to use such a platform to share our work. I hope the government, Ofcom and relevant law enforcement agencies work quickly to ensure

On Monday, Ofcom said it was aware of serious concerns about Grok’s creation of images of naked people and sexualised images of children. It said it had contacted

Starmer’s spokesman said: “What we saw on Grok is a disgrace. It is completely unacceptable. No one should have to experience their own deepfakes on the internet and we will not allow these insulting images to spread.”

“X needs to deal with this matter urgently and Ofcom has our full support to enforce where firms fail to protect users in the UK. It already has the power to impose fines running into billions of pounds and even stop access to a site that breaks the law. And when it comes to keeping people safe online, all options remain on the table.”

Asked about the issue, Kemi Badenoch’s spokesman said the Conservative Party leader agreed with the government: “We both find this absolutely disgusting and would like to see this matter contained as soon as possible.”

Asked if this could mean Badenoch, an enthusiastic X user with 350,000 followers, could leave the platform, the spokesperson said: “We are very clear that what is happening with the Grok deepfakes is absolutely disgusting and something needs to be done to stop it. I will not be announcing policy here.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Nigel Farage was asked whether he was happy to make money from a site whose business model is partly based on child sex abuse material. The Reform UK leader is paid for joining the site as a well-followed verified user.

Farage dodged the question but said he was “very concerned” about the footage and believed X would listen to criticism.