布里斯托國會議員指控馬斯克X平台因生成兒童色情AI圖像而「公然違法」

Bristol MP claims Elon Musk's 'AI porn' site X is 'flagrantly illegal'

"The non-consensual sharing of intimate images, including Al-generated ones, is a crime under the Online Safety Act"

A Bristol MP has called on the Government to do more to stop Elon Musk and his ‘X’ social media channel from posting sexualised AI images of children, and urged ministers to stop using the platform for Government accounts.

Kerry McCarthy, who until a few months ago was a Government minister, claimed that what the AI tool on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, is doing is ‘flagrantly illegal’, and the Government should have nothing more to do with X.

The Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, described what was happening on X as ‘absolutely appalling’, but in a speech in Parliament announced no concrete steps to do anything about it, apart from calling on X’s owner Elon Musk to ‘urgently deal with’ the issue and back UK media regulator Ofcom, who have begun an inquiry.

On Wednesday the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said "“All options are on the table”, when asked if the Government would stop using the app.

Over the past few weeks, X’s artificial intelligence tool Grok has begun responding to requests to create deep-fake images. It will automatically produce altered photographs of people changed at the request of X account holders, and many thousands of X users have used the opportunity to get Grok to publish photos of mainly women with bikinis on, and in sexually-suggestive poses.

That has also seen images of children produced by Grok in the same way, something which Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy said was deeply troubling. “

“Grok has been creating and sharing non-consensual, 'nudified' images over the past few weeks in response to user requests,” Ms McCarthy said, in a letter to Government ministers.

“These often feature images of women with their clothes artificially removed without their consent, or otherwise sexualised in a way they did not intend. This Al modification has also been carried out on images of children.

“It should be clear that this is flagrantly illegal; the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, including Al-generated ones, is a crime under the Online Safety Act as well as under other UK laws. XAI has apparently taken no steps to remove or prevent these images from being created and the owner of X, Elon Musk, has indeed partaken in the tool's use.

“Despite the illegal activity undertaken publicly on X and by its Al bot, the UK Government and many ministers continue to use X as a communications channel. This funnels further attention and revenue to a platform which is actively generating and hosting indecent images of children (IOC).

“In addition to this, it appears that no UK regulatory action has been taken against X to enforce the law, despite Grok generating tens of thousands of illegal images for several weeks,” she added.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times described X, as ‘the deepfake porn site formerly known as Twitter’. Ms McCarthy said it was clear the Government in the UK had to take a tough line.

“Over Christmas, Elon Musk’s AI platform, Grok, became a nudification tool on an industrial scale: mass-producing indecent images of children and non-consenting women, and enabling said images to be spread on social media,” she said.

“This is hugely damaging for the victims and is manifestly illegal. While a statement has been issued to disown the practice, the AI has responded by mocking people’s concerns.

“Musk himself appears to find the nudification tool amusing and has participated in its use. This is horrifying, and the Government cannot allow this to continue,” she added.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the situation was ‘absolutely appalling’, after Monday’s announcement by Ofcom that they were looking into what is happening as ‘a matter of urgency’.

“Services and operators have a clear obligation to act appropriately,” the minister said. “This is not about restricting freedom of speech but upholding the law.

"We have made intimate image abuse and cyberflashing priority offences under the Online Safety Act - including where images are AI-generated. This means platforms must prevent such content from appearing online and act swiftly to remove it if it does,” Liz Kendall added.

On Wednesday Mr Musk said a new version of Grok had been released and urged users to update their app. It is not clear what updates the new version contains.

The tech tycoon has previously insisted that “anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content”.

X has said it takes action against illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, “by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary”.

Later on Wednesday, Downing Street said “all options were on the table” including a boycott of X as ministers backed regulator Ofcom to take action. It comes as an internet safety organisation said its analysts had confirmed the existence of “criminal imagery of children aged between 11 and 13 which appears to have been created using the (Grok) tool”.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) the material was being shared in a dark web forum by users “boasting how they had used Grok, and how easy it had been”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “What we’ve seen on Grok is a disgrace. It is completely unacceptable. No-one should have to go through the ordeal of seeing intimate deepfakes of themselves online and we won’t allow the proliferation of these demeaning images.

“X needs to deal with this urgently and Ofcom has our full backing to take enforcement action wherever firms are failing to protect UK users. It already has the power to issue fines of up to billions of pounds and even stop access to a site that is violating the law. And when it comes to keeping people safe online, all options remain on the table.”

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