Elon Musk says UK wants to suppress free speech as X faces possible ban | Elon Musk

Elon Musk has accused the UK government of wanting to stifle free speech after ministers threatened fines and a possible ban after social media site X’s AI tool Grok was used to create sexual images of women and children without their consent.

The billionaire claimed Grok was the most downloaded app on the UK App Store on Friday night after ministers threatened action unless the function to create sexually abusive images was removed.

Responding to government ban threats, Musk wrote: “They just want to suppress free speech.”

Thousands of women have been exploited by users of the AI ​​tool, which was first used to digitally extract fully clothed photos into images showing them wearing micro bikinis, and was later used for extreme image manipulation.

Images of young girls and children were altered to appear wearing swimsuits; Some of the content could be classed as child sexual abuse material, leading experts have said.

Some users began demanding that bruises be seen on women’s bodies and that blood be added to the images. The women were shown bound, gagged and shot.

Ministers are seriously examining the possibility of access to X being banned in the UK, technology secretary Liz Kendall said on Friday.

He said he expected Ofcom to announce action within “days, not weeks”, having said it was seeking urgent responses from the platform this week.

“X needs to grasp this material and take it down,” he said. “And I would remind them that there are backstop powers in the Online Safety Act that will block access to services for people in the UK if they refuse to comply with the law, and if Ofcom decides to use those powers, they will have the full support of the government.”

The UK government’s concerns were also voiced by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese. Speaking in Canberra on Saturday, Albanese said “global citizens deserve better”. Australia recently banned the use of social media by those under the age of 16.

“The use of generative AI to exploit or sexualize people without their consent is abhorrent,” he said.

“It is completely disgusting that this tool is being used to get people to use the image creation function through Grok. This is yet another example of social media’s lack of social responsibility.”

Some right-wing political figures have tried to frame this as a free speech issue. Responding to news that X was facing a potential ban, former prime minister Liz Truss said: “Starmer is really losing out now.”

X partially restricted access to Grok on Friday. The public account lost the ability to create images at the request of free users, and this function became available only to paid subscribers. She also appeared to have stopped creating bikini images.

However, the Grok app, which does not create public images, can still create sexually explicit material from women’s photos.

Other nudification practices still exist. Labor MP Jess Asato, who campaigns against sexual abuse and harassment against women, said there was an urgent need for legislation to ban such practices.

He shared on social media: “It’s not just XAi. This nudification tool was advertised on @YouTube yesterday.

“@Google said no rules were broken in reporting.

“Our nudity legislation needs to be stepped up.”

Google has been approached for comment.