Musk’s X and Grok in hot water again with UK regulator
Key Points
- Ofcom still has concerns about X removing illegal hate and terror content
- X is reviewing reports faster and within its agreed timeframes
- Ofcom’s Grok deepfake investigation is moving towards a decision
- X fixed age checks after children could access porn on the platform
- Grok now blocks porn and explicit companion chats for UK users
Ofcom has raised fresh concerns about X’s handling of illegal hate and terror content. The regulator published the update on Wednesday (14 October), alongside the latest on its investigation into X over Grok-generated sexual deepfakes.
X submitted its first quarterly report to Ofcom on how it handles user reports of suspected hate and terror content.
The data showed X reviewing reports faster than earlier in the year, and within the timeframes it agreed with Ofcom in May.
X committed then to review terror and hate content reported through its dedicated UK tool within an average of 24 hours over three months.
It also agreed to review at least 85% of these reports within a maximum of 48 hours over the same period.
“We have ongoing concerns, however, around the effectiveness of X’s response to taking down illegal hate and terror content, and we have received mixed reports around the sustained delivery of X’s commitment to engage with third-party experts,” Ofcom said.
The regulator said it would cross-check X’s figures against its own tests, and that X must sustain this performance as a minimum.
Ofcom plans to publish further analysis of X’s performance early in the new year, once it receives more data from the company.
Grok deepfake investigation nears decision point
Ofcom opened its investigation into X in January after reports of people using the Grok chatbot account to create sexual deepfakes of real people, including children.
The regulator said it has used its formal powers to gather and analyse an extensive amount of information about X’s processes.
It examined how X assessed the risk of illegal content, how easily users can report it, and how X made its moderation decisions.
Ofcom will now decide whether X complied with its duties under the Online Safety Act to protect UK users from illegal content.
If Ofcom finds reasonable grounds to believe X failed those duties, it will issue a provisional view setting out its proposed findings. X would then have a full opportunity to respond before Ofcom makes its final decision.
Children could access porn on X
Ofcom’s evidence-gathering found that age-gated pornographic material remained accessible, in certain circumstances, to accounts not verified as belonging to adults.
X has since changed its service so that content labelled as pornography is consistently restricted for accounts that have not completed age assurance.
Ofcom said it will now focus the rest of its investigation on X’s illegal content and complaints duties, while continuing to monitor its age checks.
Grok restricts porn for UK users
Ofcom could not investigate image creation on the standalone Grok service in January because of gaps in how the Act covers chatbots.
SpaceXAI, formerly xAI, nevertheless blocked users at the time from generating or viewing images of real people in revealing attire such as bikinis.
Following further engagement with Ofcom, the company has now stopped people with UK IP addresses from viewing, generating or sharing pornographic content using Grok’s image generation, in the app or via links.
SpaceXAI also restricted its companion chatbots, including Ani, from engaging in sexually explicit conversations with UK users.
Ofcom said it will continue to monitor these restrictions and engage with SpaceXAI about how the Act applies to standalone Grok.
