NI politician targeted by deepfake quits X over Grok AI concerns

A Northern Ireland politician targeted in a deepfake video four years ago has said she is quitting Elon Musk's social media site X due to what she described as a "complete negligence in protecting women and children online".

Cara Hunter of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) said she had growing concerns over deepfake imagery produced by the site's AI tool Grok.

On Monday, the UK said it will bring into force a law which will make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images, following widespread concerns over the AI chatbot.

It came after Ofcom launched a formal investigation into X to see whether it had complied with its duties to protect people from illegal content.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told the Commons the new law would make it illegal for companies to supply the tools designed to create such images.

Kendall has also said she would back Ofcom if it blocks UK access to X but Musk has said critics are seeking "any excuse for censorship."

In a statement Ofcom said it had "urgently" made contact with X and "set a firm deadline of Friday 9 January for it to explain what steps it has taken to comply with its duties to protect its users in the UK".

The watchdog said it had now decided to open a formal investigation to establish whether X has failed to comply with its legal obligations under the Online Safety Act.

If Ofcom finds that a company has broken the law, it can impose fines of up to £18m or 10% of a firm's worldwide revenue - whichever is greater.

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill has welcomed the Ofcom investigation.

"It's absolutely disgraceful and disgusting that any social media platform allows this type of illegal content to be created," she said.

In a statement posted on X a week ago, the social media site said it takes "action against illegal content on X, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary."

"Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X said.

SDLP assembly member (MLA) Hunter told BBC News NI "Grok is just the epitome of how disgraceful X has become".

"Morally and in good conscience from an ethical perspective, I do not think I can continue to use this site," she said.

East Londonderry MLA Hunter was targeted in a deepfake video four years ago, when her face was digitally superimposed on to the face of another person.

The video was circulated widely on social media in the run up to the 2022 Stormont election.

"Any platform that contributes to the creation or false imagery of woman using their likeness without their consent, creating sexual imagery is an absolute disgrace," Hunter said.

She said the "dynamic" of X had "changed so much", adding that it "allowed for so many derogatory comments towards women".

Hunter said she supported government intervention, which she said was a "good idea, given the lack of guardrails and safeguarding for women and children specifically".

O'Neill said X's response to date had been of concern.

"X have been woefully, woefully inadequate in terms of their response," the first minister said.

"Where they (social media companies) fail to act then I do believe the governments should step in. I think there's a lot more conversation to be had – certainly here at a local level."

O'Neill added: "We're going to continue to work with (Justice Minister) Naomi Long in terms of what we can do."

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said there is clearly a "vulnerability" across social media in relation to the "proliferation of explicit content and engineered content".

He said a UK-wide position was needed around the "appropriate regulation not just of existing technology and platforms but the potentials of the futures through AI."

The Green Party of Northern Ireland has also said it will stop using X.

"The platform has repeatedly failed to fully deal with child sexual abuse material, deepfake abuse and coordinated disinformation," Belfast city councillor Brian Smyth said.

"Those failures are structural, not accidental."

Kevin Curran, a professor of cyber security at Ulster University, admits to spending an average of three hours each day on X, using it mostly as a news source and also to connect with colleagues

"Of course there are opinions on X I find horrendous, but it is still a helpful platform for the modern age," he told BBC News NI's Evening Extra programme.

Curran acknowledged the importance of online regulations but said there should be a separation between a "political attack on Musk, and correct policing".

"Is this decision by Ofcom going to apply across all social media sites, or is it specific to X?" he asked.

"Ten daily inappropriate posts in a pool of 280 million, does that really warrant a complete ban on a platform?"

The use of Grok to generate non-consensual sexualised images has been condemned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who called it "disgraceful" and "disgusting".

X has now limited the use of AI image function to those who pay a monthly fee, a change dubbed by Downing Street as "insulting" to victims of sexual violence.

Ofcom's powers under the Online Safety Act include being able to seek a court order to prevent third parties from helping X raise money or preventing it from being accessed in the UK, should the firm refuse to comply.

However these so-called business disruption measures remain largely untested.