Government accused of dragging its heels on deepfake law over Grok AI

Campaigners have accused the federal government of dragging its heels on implementing a regulation which might make it unlawful to create non-consensual sexualised deepfakes.

It comes amid a backlash towards photos created utilizing Elon Musk’s AI Grok to digitally take away clothes – with one lady telling the BBC greater than 100 sexualised photos have been created of her.

It’s at the moment illegal to share deepfakes of adults in the UK, however new laws that might make it a felony offence to create or request them remains to be not in power regardless of passing in June 2025.

However it’s unclear whether or not all the unclothing photos created by Grok would fall foul of this regulation. The BBC has contacted the federal government for remark.

In a statement, X stated: “Anybody utilizing or prompting Grok to make unlawful content material will undergo the identical penalties as in the event that they add unlawful content material.”

“We take motion towards unlawful content material on X, together with Little one Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM), by eradicating it, completely suspending accounts, and dealing with native governments and regulation enforcement as essential,” the assertion stated.

Grok may be accessed by way of its web site and app, or by tagging “@grok” in posts on the social media platform X.

However Andrea Simon from Finish Violence Towards Girls stated by not placing the regulation into impact, the federal government had “put ladies and women in hurt’s method”.

“Non-consensual sexually express deepfakes are a transparent violation of girls’s rights and have a long-lasting, traumatic affect on victims,” she stated.

“For girls utilizing platforms like X, the specter of this abuse may imply they really feel the necessity to self-censor and alter their behaviour, proscribing their freedom of expression and participation on-line.”

“This isn’t solely a felony justice subject however a difficulty of regulating a tech ecosystem that facilitates and earnings from violence towards ladies and women.”

On Tuesday, Know-how Secretary Liz Kendall demanded X “take care of this urgently”, calling the state of affairs “completely appalling”.

The regulator Ofcom stated it had made “pressing contact” with X and xAI, which constructed Grok, on Monday and instructed the BBC it was investigating considerations.

Each Kendall and Downing Avenue have backed the regulator taking motion, with the Prime Minister’s spokesperson including on Wednesday “all choices remained on the desk”.

The Ministry of Justice instructed the BBC: “It’s already an offence to share intimate photos on social media, together with deepfakes, with out consent.

“We refuse to tolerate this degrading and dangerous behaviour, which is why now we have additionally launched laws to ban their creation with out consent.”

The present regulation says it’s unlawful to generate pornographic deepfakes when utilized in revenge porn or depicting kids.

A provision within the Information (Use and Entry) Act 2025 criminalised the creation or commissioning of “purported intimate photos” – or deepfakes – Lorna Woods, Professor of Web regulation at Essex College, instructed the BBC.

However a year on from first announcing a crackdown on the offence, the federal government has nonetheless not introduced a key authorized provision that would goal these asking grok to make sexualised deepfakes of girls and women, specialists and campaigners have instructed the BBC.

Professor Woods stated this offence “would appear to be an excellent match for a number of the photos which have been created utilizing Grok” nevertheless it had not but been introduced into power.

In the meantime the EVAW’s Simon questioned why the secondary laws wanted to make creating sexual deepfakes against the law had nonetheless not occurred, given they had been “a transparent violation of girls’s rights”.

“This regulation has nonetheless not come into power,” she stated, “nor has a date been set for when it will happen”.

Conservative peer Baroness Owen, who campaigned for the legal change in the House of Lords, instructed the BBC the federal government had “repeatedly dragged its heels” to convey the principles into impact.

“We can’t afford any extra delays,” she stated.

“Survivors of this abuse deserve higher.

“Nobody ought to should stay in worry of their consent being violated on this appalling method.”

And cross-bench peer Baroness Beeban Kidron instructed the BBC: “Know-how strikes quick, and this laws is meant to plug an present hole, so there isn’t any excuse for delay.”

The BBC has spoken to several women who’ve had footage they posted of themselves on X become deepfakes by the Grok AI.

Grok is a free software which customers usually tag beneath different folks’s feedback with prompts to provide a response or context.

Extra not too long ago, folks have been ready to make use of the chatbot to change footage they or different folks have uploaded by tagging it and together with a textual content immediate – even when that features undressing them or placing them in sexualised poses.

Evie instructed the BBC whereas she observed folks began to answer to footage of herself asking Grok to place her in a bikini a number of months in the past, the most recent replace had made it “simpler” for customers to do, and the images appeared “extra lifelike”.

She says she now has had not less than 100 sexualised photos of herself created by way of the AI assistant, so many in order that she has given up reporting all of them because of the “psychological pressure” concerned in viewing them.

In addition to having to have a look at the photographs herself, the concept of family members seeing her in sexual or undressed poses has additionally made staying on X very troublesome for her.

“My household observe me on there, my associates, my co-workers,” she stated.

“Realizing that every one the folks I care about in my life can see me like that… it is disgusting.”

Dr Daisy Dixon is one other feminine X person who instructed the BBC she has seen a rise in folks utilizing Grok to undress her, notably utilizing her profile image.

She stated the images left her feeling “humiliated” – and stated the actual fact Grok routinely commented the altered photos at her left her feeling as if she had been assaulted.

“To have that energy transfer of posting it again to you – it is like saying ‘I’ve management over you and I will preserve reminding you I’ve management over you’,” she stated.

“We do not wish to dilute the idea, nevertheless it seems like a sort of assault on the physique.”

And X customers resembling Evie say motion must occur now.

“There’s so many locations on-line that you are able to do this, however the truth that it was taking place on Twitter with the inbuilt AI bot – that is loopy that is allowed,” she stated.

“Why is that this allowed and why is nothing being executed about it?”