“If Ofcom suggests to the government that it actually ban X as a result of this abuse, which is systemic and uncontrolled and safeguards are clearly not working, would the government accept that recommendation?”
Bella Wallersteiner (X)[Missing Credit]
In response, Kyle insisted that such abuse was abhorrent and should never be normalised. “I do not want to live in a country or a world where that happens and not where it becomes normalised,” he said.
He also suggested that the individuals who input the prompts that cause the chatbot to produce such images should be “brought to justice”.
“A human being is using emerging technology to perpetrate this kind of hate [and] racism. I want that person found, and that person brought to justice, and I want to make sure that those tools are taken away from anyone that wants to do it.”
And, if Ofcom were to recommend banning X, he said he would not stand in the regulator’s way.
“These are the sorts of powers that they have, and the really good news is that you don’t have to come back to ministers to get permission to do it. If it did get to the point where Ofcom made the judgment, then of course you would not have me standing against them.”
Kyle pointed to Ofcom’s powers to fine tech companies 10 per cent of global earnings and that senior individuals within tech companies could now face criminal liability.
“Each social media company that operates in the UK must have a named person who is responsible for the safety of children, and that person is now criminally liable… an individual within a social media company can now go to prison in the most serious cases,” he said.
Wallersteiner welcomed his comments, telling the JC: “I am glad the government is looking at all options to tackle this appalling abuse. The time for platitudes is over.”
But she added: “Responsibility cannot simply be delegated to Ofcom. If this government is not prepared to take a stand to protect women, girls and children from explicit abuse, then it is hard to know what cause it is willing to fight for.
“This technology will only become more widespread and more sophisticated. The moment to act to put real safeguards in place is now.”
Kyle later told the BBC that Wallersteiner’s story “made me feel sick to my stomach” and said it was “appalling” that Grok was not tested for the specific impact it would have on women.
X has since restricted access to “image editing” for Grok users, but it is still available for paying subscribers.
Touching on wider issues with social media in his interview with the JC at JLM, Kyle cited his decision on “day one” in office to ban suicide forums online.
“Our country is safer as a result of these [measures] but when I hear stories like yours, it shows that we have to go further,” he said.
He disclosed that he had been targeted with antisemitic abuse on X after a clip circulated of him attending a Labour Friends of Israel lunch. “I didn’t realise [the clip] had gone online, but suddenly my one of my social media accounts got flooded with the most horrific antisemitism – and I’m not Jewish,” he said.
While stressing that this did not mean he understood the Jewish experience of antisemitism, Kyle said it showed him what a “nanosecond” of this online hate looked like.
Antisemitic trolls, he added, often act anonymously, using technology “to hide their identity but perpetrate the most grotesque distortion of truth and perpetrate hate in a way that is illegal”.
“We have got to get to the place where people treat people as if you’re talking to them face to face,” he said.
Kyle rejected Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s proposal to ban social media for under-16s, arguing that many issues were rooted in parenting and a lack of digital literacy. While acknowledging serious harms, he said social media also offered “wondrous things for language and music and arts and creativity”.
He added that tech companies operating in Britain would be expected to respect UK law and values.
“I said to every single one of the big tech companies when I met them that Britain is going to become... the best place in the world to invest, to innovate, to commercialise, to make money.
“But we also have high expectations for in return, and that means that you will be cognisant of our British values and British law. You don't have to come to Britain.
"You are very welcome. But when you come here, you come here, and you obey British law. If you do that, we are going to have a fantastic relationship, and you have a government that's on your side.”
A spokesperson for X said in January: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
