Liv McMahonAnd
laura cress,technology reporter
getty imagesUK government says Elon Musk’s platforms
Speaking on Friday, Downing Street said the move “simply turns an AI feature that allows illegal images to be made into a premium service”.
Grok digitally stripped people without their consent when tagged under images posted on X, leading to significant backlash – with some saying it can now only be done to those who pay a monthly fee.
However, the AI tool can still edit images on the
The BBC has contacted Ax for comment.
The prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters on Friday that it showed Ax could “move fast whenever he wants”.
He said it was “abundantly clear that X needs to act and needs to act now”.
He said, “It is time for
The Liberal Democrats have called for access to X to be temporarily restricted in the UK while the social media site is investigated.
“Musk has thrown his toys out of the car in protest at being held responsible for a tsunami of abuse,” said Professor Claire McGlynn, an expert on the legal regulation of pornography, sexual violence and online abuse.
“Instead of taking responsible steps to ensure that Grok cannot be used for abusive purposes, it has withdrawn access for the majority of users.”
And Hannah Swirsky, head of policy at the Internet Watch Foundation, said, “It doesn’t undo the damage that has been done”.
“We do not believe it is good enough to limit access to a tool that should never have had the ability to create the kind of imagery we have seen in recent days,” he said.
The charity previously said its analysts had discovered “criminal images” of girls aged between 11 and 13 that “appear to have been created” using Grok.
“It is unacceptable to sit and wait for unsafe products to be abused before taking action,” Swirsky said.
‘Subscribe to unlock’
Grok is a free tool that users can tag directly in posts or replies under other users’ posts to ask for a specific response.
But the feature has also allowed people to request that images be edited – and it has also asked people to take off most of their clothes digitally.
Grok has responded to numerous user requests by editing images of women to show them in bikinis or skimpy clothing – people subject to such requests have told the BBC they felt “humiliated” and “dehumanised”.
However as of Friday morning, Grok has told users asking to alter images uploaded to X that “image creation and editing is currently limited to paying customers”.
It adds that users can “subscribe to unlock these features”.
Some posts on the platform seen by BBC News suggest that only people with a blue tick “verified” mark – exclusive to X’s paid subscriber tier – were able to successfully request image editing to Grok.
Dr Daisy Dixon, a philosophy lecturer at Cardiff University and Female
“Grok needs to be completely redesigned and have ethical guardrails put in place to prevent this from happening again,” he told the BBC.
“Elon Musk also needs to acknowledge this for what it is – another example of gender-based violation.”
Charities campaigning to end violence against women also criticized the move.
Refuge’s Emma Pickering said, “Restricting access to paying customers is not only inadequate – it represents the monetization of abuse.”
He said that while limiting the feature to paid
Meanwhile, Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women coalition, said, “We are not confident that
Professor McGlynn said
He said, “He is doing this to promote debate on freedom of expression.”
“He will claim that regulation is preventing people from using this technology. But, regulation only requires that they take the necessary precautions to minimize harm.”
‘Ofcom should ban X’
Ofcom said on Monday it had “urgently” contacted Ax amid concerns about the content originating with Grok and the company’s compliance with UK laws.
A spokesperson said, “Based on their response we will conduct a rapid assessment to determine if there are potential compliance issues that require investigation.”
Ofcom’s powers under the Online Safety Act include being able to seek a court order to stop third parties from helping the Elon Musk-owned platform raise funds or access the UK.
Lib Dem frontbenchers Victoria Collins, Mary Goldman and Max Wilkinson have written to Ofcom boss Dame Melanie Dawes calling for action.
He wrote, “If any other platform were found to be promoting mass sexual exploitation imagery on this scale, it is difficult to believe that it would be allowed to continue to operate unhindered.”
“Ofcom must now restrict access to X until an investigation is carried out.”
Downing Street reiterated the Government’s “full support” for regulator Ofcom to use all its powers – up to and including a ban.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously called the images made by Groke “disgraceful” and “disgusting”.
Meanwhile the Conservatives echoed comments made by Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson after PMQs on Wednesday, who called the deepfake images “absolutely disgusting”.
