Musk says X outcry is 'excuse for censorship'

After its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok drew criticism over its ability to produce sexualized photos of people without their knowledge or permission, Elon Musk sAId critics of his social media platform X are looking for

any excuse for censorship. Ofcom says it is conducting an urgent review of X in response, with the support of Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. However, the chairwomen of Parliament's technology and media committees have all expressed concern that

gaps

in the Online Safety Act would impede the media regulator's ability to deal with the situation. Downing Street has now limited the usage of AI image software to those who pay a monthly subscription, a move that Downingstreet has described as

insulting to sexual assault victims.

Several instances of the free AI tool undressing women and putting them in sexual situations without their knowledge have been seen by the BBC. Kendall said on Friday that he expects an update from Ofcom within days and that if the government decides to block X in the United Kingdom, it will have the government's full support. Musk reposted a number of messages on the website overnight condemning the government's reproval of Grok, including one that showed AI-generated photos of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a bikini. Musk wrote,

They just want to discourage free expression. Grok had obtained sexually derived pictures of her as a child, according to Ashley St Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children. Despite telling Grok that she did not consent to the sexualized photos, the conservative influencer said her image had been

strippedto appearfully nude, bent over. St Clair, who filed a lawsuit against Musk in 2025 and sole custody of their children, argued that the social media platform was not taking enough steps to tackle illegal content, including child sexual abuse pictures.

This could be stopped with a single message to an engineer,

she said. Grok was alerting users that

image generation and editing are now limited to paying subscribers,

adding that "paying customers will be able to access these services.

On Friday, an Ofcom representative said,

We urgently made [social media redacted]] and set a firm deadline of today for reporting themselves, to which we have not replied.

We're now doing an expedited review as a matter of urgency, and we'll have more information shortly.

Ofcom's obligations under the Online Safety Act include the ability to request a court order to block third parties from assisting X in raising money or accessing the UK if the corporation refuses to comply. However, Dame Chi Onwurah, chairwoman of the innovation and technology committee, said she was

concerned and uncertainabout how the issue isactually being handled

and had written to Ofcom and Kendall for clarification. If the design of such images using AI was unlawful, as was the responsibility of social media pages for what was posted on their pages, Dame Chi sAId it was

unclearunder the Online Safety Act.The legislation should certainly make something so harmful to so many people who are obviously unlawful,

she told BBC Radio 4's Today program. Caroline Dinenage, chairwoman of the culture, media, and sport committee, expressed her concern about

a lack in the legislation.

There are questions about whether the Online Safety Act has the ability to limit functionality,

she told BBC Breakfast,

which means generative AI's ability to nudify someone's image. Politicians on both directions have condemned Grok's use to produce non-consensual sexualized photographs: Elsewhere, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he agreed with Starmer that the photo was

completely abhorrent.