[Politico] LONDON — U.K. ministers are warning Elon Musk's X it faces a ban if it doesn't get its act together. But outlawing the social media platform is easier said than done.
The U.K.'s communications regulator Ofcom on Monday launched a formal investigation into a deluge of non-consensual sexualized deepfakes produced by X's AI chatbot Grok amid growing calls for action from U.K. politicians.
It will determine whether the creation and distribution of deepfakes on the platform, which have targeted women and children, constitutes a breach of the company’s duties under the U.K.’s Online Safety Act (OSA).
U.K. ministers have repeatedly called for Ofcom, the regulator tasked with policing social media platforms, to take urgent action over the deepfakes.
U.K. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall on Friday offered her "full support" to the U.K. regulator to block X from being accessed in the U.K., if it chooses to.
"I would remind xAI that the Online Safety Act Includes the power to block services from being accessed in the U.K., if they refuse to comply with U.K. law. If Ofcom decide to use those powers they will have our full support," she said in a statement.
The suggestion has drawn Musk’s ire. The tech billionaire branded the British government "fascist" over the weekend, and accused it of "finding any excuse for censorship." |