The Commons women and equalities committee has become the first Westminster body to suspend use of X, citing the spread of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children…reports Asian Lite News
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 Guardian reported. The cross-party committee’s move comes amid mounting concern in Westminster and among regulators after the platform was flooded with images, including sexualised and unclothed pictures of children, generated by its AI tool, Grok.
The decision places renewed pressure on ministers to take decisive action against the platform and its owners. The committee, which scrutinises government policy on issues including gender equality and discrimination, concluded that the environment on X was incompatible with its work to prevent violence against women and girls. The move is understood to have been agreed at a meeting on Wednesday and marks the first significant withdrawal by a parliamentary organisation from the platform.
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”. While the committee will retain its X account, which has about 27,000 followers, it will be left dormant to prevent it being taken over by others.
The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, described the imagery generated by Grok as “appalling and unacceptable in decent society” and urged the UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, to take whatever action is needed. Ministers have signalled they are prepared to back the regulator as it considers its next steps under the Online Safety Act.
Speaking on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Keir Starmer said that “all options remain on the table” for Ofcom, which has powers to impose substantial fines or, in extreme cases, restrict access to a site. The spokesperson added that the government would not tolerate the spread of deepfake imagery that harms individuals, particularly women and children.
Although the committee’s decision applies only to its official account, some members have already stepped away from X in a personal capacity. Owen herself stopped using the platform last year, while the Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine confirmed she was leaving X, describing the images generated by Grok as “the last straw”. Jardine said she had previously regarded the platform as a useful way to communicate with constituents but added: “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.”
Owen said she would write to the Cabinet Office and to Ofcom to press for action against X. Explaining her own earlier departure from the platform, 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.” She added that “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.”
Owen continued: “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.”
Ofcom said on Monday that it was aware of serious concerns raised about Grok creating images of undressed people and sexualised images of children. The regulator 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 a formal investigation based on the companies’ responses.
Downing Street reiterated its support for robust enforcement. 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.” The spokesperson added that X must act urgently and that Ofcom had the government’s “full backing to take enforcement action wherever firms are failing to protect UK users”.
The opposition has also voiced condemnation. Asked about the issue, a spokesperson for Kemi Badenoch said the Conservative leader agreed with the government, adding: “We both find it absolutely abhorrent and want to see it clamped down upon as soon as possible.” Pressed on whether Badenoch, a prominent user of X with hundreds of thousands of followers, might leave the platform, the spokesperson declined to speculate, saying only that action was needed to stop the deepfakes.
