The UK plans to bring into force a law this week that will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, as Ofcom investigates X

The UK will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, following widespread concerns over Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot.

BBC 2026-01-13 Laura Cress

Context & Ripple Effects

This moves the UK from its earlier proposal to criminalize the creation of explicit deepfakes without consent to bringing that prohibition into force. It also extends a policy arc that included restrictions on AI tools designed to produce CSAM.

The timing ties image-generation safety directly to platform oversight: Ofcom is investigating X amid concerns associated with Grok, making the issue both a criminal-law and a service-governance question.

First-order effects

Creating non-consensual intimate images becomes illegal in the UK, creating immediate legal exposure for people who make them rather than only those who distribute them.
X faces added scrutiny while Ofcom investigates its content-and-safety practices in connection with concerns around Grok.

Second-order effects

AI services and platforms serving UK users will face stronger pressure to prevent or constrain image-generation uses that can produce non-consensual intimate material, especially where product safeguards are under examination.
The measure reinforces the UK's broader willingness to target AI-enabled sexual harm, following new restrictions on AI tools designed to produce CSAM.

Third-order effects

If enforcement is sustained, UK AI governance will increasingly combine rules aimed at the act of creating harmful synthetic media with platform-level safety oversight, rather than treating distribution as the sole intervention point.
That approach could make likeness and consent controls a more central product requirement for generative-AI providers operating in the UK, though the practical boundary will depend on enforcement and Ofcom's findings.

The trend: Governments are shifting from regulating harmful online content after publication toward governing the creation capabilities and safety controls of generative-AI services.

Discussion

@ednewtonrex Ed Newton-Rex on x
I had pretty much lost faith in the UK government's ability to regulate AI fairly, after they proposed handing creatives' work to AI companies for free. But there are new ministers working on tech & AI, and their response to the Grok debacle has been superb. Increasingly hopefu…
@scitechgovuk @scitechgovuk on x
“No woman or child should live in fear of having their image sexually manipulated by technology” Secretary of State @leicesterliz updates on the government's response to non-consensual sexual deepfakes on social media 🔽 [video]
@lareyne @lareyne on bluesky
Meanwhile UK government maintains accounts on X.
@clareblackwood Clare Blackwood on bluesky
Every single country should follow suit and pull their government officials and accounts from the platform until Grok's ability to do this shit is disabled. www.bbc.com/news/article...
@lizrenzetti Liz Renzetti on bluesky
The UK's broadcast regulator is investigating X for its CSAM, and the government will “make it illegal for companies to supply the tools designed to create such images.” — Meanwhile in Canada ....🦗 — bbc.com/news/article...
@senthorun Senthorun S. Raj on bluesky
“The UK will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images...” — X is a platform that facilitates harassment of women, racial minorities, LGBT people, disabled folk and other marginalised groups. The sexually abusive content is just…
@brunodias Bruno Dias on bluesky
This suggests that no, there's not going to be a ban. Rather than acting against a malicious actor with money they're going to legislate in some way that allows the malicious actor to keep operating. — www.bbc.com/news/article...
r/technology r on reddit
UK to bring into force law to tackle Grok AI deepfakes this week
r/grok r on reddit
how do you guys feel about this?
@ofcom @ofcom on x
🧵 We've opened a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act, to determine whether it has complied with its duties to protect people in the UK from illegal content. ⬇️ 🔗 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/... [image]
@prestonjbyrne Preston Byrne on x
Ofcom will, assuming it follows the template of prior investigations, have sent X a letter warning it of that investigation, threatening X's senior managers with arrest if they refuse to comply, and demanding X produce information without first getting a warrant.
@lewis_goodall Lewis Goodall on x
NEW: @Ofcom has launches a formal investigation into X over the use of the Grok to manipulate images of women and remove their clothes. “We have decided to open a formal investigation to establish whether X has failed to comply with its legal obligations under the Online Safety
@bluedotin @bluedotin on bluesky
(APNews) While Musk is not taking any steps to prevent his AI Grok from creating oversexualized AI Images, countries are beginning to block his AI engine. Stay tuned. — apnews.com/article/grok... Malaysia and Indonesia become the first countries to block Musk's Grok over sexu…
@trulsgulowsen Truls Gulowsen on bluesky
Indonesia, Malaysia, UK, France and others have banned or considered banning X - makes it even stranger for some governments (and media) to maintain it as public information channel — apnews.com/article/grok...
@rmac Ryan Mac on bluesky
Musk has many supporters who see him as the protector of “free speech.” He's done a lot of personal branding to that effect. But I suspect some of them would be uncomfortable with “free speech” encompassing the ability to create & share nonconsensual sexual material. — www.ny…
@goodlawproject @goodlawproject on bluesky
Great to see Ofcom launch a formal investigation into X. It's crucial this doesn't stop at AI imagery, it must also cover the vast amount of other illegal content X isn't removing under the Online Safety Act — https://tinyurl.com/mr2syd99
@annmemmott Ann Memmott on bluesky
www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet... Good. Let's hope it goes somewhere and doesn't fade to nothing after any, er, persuasion from very very rich people...
@goodlawproject.org Jolyon Maugham KC on bluesky
We are pleased to see this from Ofcom www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet.... However, it appears to have a main or exclusive focus on CSAM and there is a wide variety of other illegal content which X, in breach of its duties under the Online Safety Act, has failed to remove.
@jamesdaustin James Austin on bluesky
There is nothing wrong per se with Ofcom's statement here - they're following the process they have to as soon as possible - but it does show how slow and bureaucratic state processes are compared to how the internet moves. — Makes it a far less effective regulator
@wanderinggaia Gaia Vince on bluesky
Clearly illegal, so should be immediately shut down (as any other publication would be) while Ofcom launches its investigation...
@mattburgess1 Matt Burgess on bluesky
UK communications regulator has announced it's opening an official investigation into X over non-consensual imagery. This follows it getting in touch with X last week. — It's investigating on a host of grounds: from whether X has done proper risk assessments to failing to take…
@appleinsider@mastodon.social @appleinsider@mastodon.social on mastodon
We know you're reading, Apple. For maybe the first time in the '20s, do the right thing by users instead of your shareholders and block the child porn factory that is X and Grok until they make changes. — https://appleinsider.com/...
r/technology r on reddit
The UK's independent online safety watchdog (Ofcom) launches investigation into X over Grok sexualised imagery
r/grok r on reddit
Ofcom investigates Elon Musk's X over Grok AI sexual deepfakes
r/WomenInNews r on reddit
UK threatens action against X over sexualised AI images of women and children
@uk_daniel_card @uk_daniel_card on x
This should also apply to men.... so perhaps it should be ‘people’ (I know the law does)
@scitechgovuk @scitechgovuk on x
Tackling violence against women and girls is as important online as it is in the real world. Read the full statement: https://www.gov.uk/... [video]
r/EnoughMuskSpam r on reddit
Britain Investigates Elon Musk's X Over Grok's Sexualized A.I. Images
@jimfromoldham @jimfromoldham on x
There is a lot of discussion about why X and why Grok, when other AI and editing programmes allow user directed image generation. Firstly and significantly, X and Grok are integrated. When a user prompts Grok to create an image, X can publish it for the world to see, with
@bricky67_ @bricky67_ on x
Anyone against this law coming in is a fucking pedophile.
r/artificial r on reddit
Malaysia and Indonesia become the first countries to block Musk's Grok over sexualized AI images

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