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

The Commons women and equalities committee has decided to stop using X after the social media site’s AI tool began generating thousands of digitally altered images of women and children with their clothes removed.The move by the cross-party committee places renewed pressure on ministers to take decisive action after the site was flooded with images including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children generated by its AI tool, Grok.Sarah Owen, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said that given preventing violence against women and girls was among its key policy areas, “it has become increasingly clear that X is not an appropriate platform to be using for our communications”.Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, has called the imagery “appalling and unacceptable in decent society” and urged Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, to take whatever action is needed.Speaking on Wednesday, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said that “all options remain on the table” for Ofcom, which has the power to impose huge fines or to restrict access to a site.The decision by the women and equalities committee is the first significant move by a Westminster organisation to exit X. It is understood the committee took the decision at a meeting on Wednesday. It will keep its X account, which has about 27,000 followers, in existence but dormant, to ensure no one else can take it over.While the decision concerns only the committee’s account, some individual members, including Owen, have already stopped using X. Another, the Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, said she was leaving the platform, calling the images generated by Grok “the last straw”.Jardine said she had taken the view that X was a good way to communicate with constituents. “But I cannot in all conscience continue to use a platform which seems unwilling to act against this grossly offensive and abusive online behaviour towards women and girls,” she said.Owen also plans to write to the Cabinet Office and to Ofcom to urge action against X. She said: “I personally came off X in 2024 after the platform and its owner promoted and paid creators of far-right racist and misogynistic material. The committee heard at the end of last year on inquiries about community cohesion that X posts regularly break UK law on hate speech.“In recent days, X and xAI have allowed the creation and sharing of AI deepfakes, non-consensual intimate imagery, and child sexual abuse material – all areas identified as online violence against women and girls by our committee.“We do not view it as appropriate to use such a platform to share our work. I hope that the government, Ofcom and relevant law enforcement agencies work quickly to make X immediately abide by UK law on online safety and non-consensual intimate image abuse, to be held to account for its failures and if it refuses to abide by our laws, it must be appropriately sanctioned.”On Monday, Ofcom said it was aware of serious concerns raised about Grok creating images of undressed people and sexualised images of children. It said it had contacted X and xAI “to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK” and would assess the need for an investigation based on the company’s response.Starmer’s spokesperson said: “What we have seen on Grok is a disgrace. It is completely unacceptable. No one should have to go through the ordeal of 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.”Asked about the issue, Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson said the Conservative leader agreed with the government: “We both find it absolutely abhorrent and want to see it clamped down upon as soon as possible.”Asked if this could mean Badenoch, an enthusiastic user of X who has 350,000 followers, might leave the platform, the spokesperson said: “We are very clear that what is happening with those Grok deepfakes is absolutely disgusting and there has to be some something done to stop that. I’m not about to announce policy here.”Earlier on Wednesday, Nigel Farage was asked if he was happy to earn money from a site that had a business model based in part on child sexual abuse material. The Reform UK leader is paid for engagement on the site as a much-followed verified user.Farage avoided the question but said he was “very worried” about the images and he believed X would listen to the criticism.