Why is U.K. upset at Elon Musk's X and what is Canada doing about it?
The U.K. is considering a ban on the social media platform X and is trying to gather international support for such a move. But Canada has said it won’t be part of that, at least for now. Here’s what to know.
Why is Britain upset at X?
It isn’t just Britain, but that country have been making news over discussions to ban the platform. At issue is X’s AI assistant, Grok, which has been widely used to generate sexualized deepfakes of women and children, including modifying photographs to remove a person’s clothing.
What has X done to deal with the problem?
The company, run by Elon Musk, said the issue was due to a lapse in its AI’s safeguards. It subsequently limited image generation to paying customers . But politicians in Britain and the EU called for a stronger regulatory crackdown.
What are other countries doing?
Some have gone so far as to block their citizens from accessing Grok. On Monday, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that Malaysia had become the second country to temporarily block access to Grok. This came a day after Indonesia made a similar move.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said on Sunday it would restrict access to Grok over the AI tool’s ability “to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive, and nonconsensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors,” per the Guardian.
The Guardian also reported that Germany’s culture and media minister had called on the European Commission to take legal steps, warning of the “industrialization of sexual harassment,” and that France and Italy were also warning of the platform’s misuse.
What is Britain’s plan?
On Monday, the U.K.’s independent media regulator Ofcom said it was launching a formal investigation into X over Grok’s image creation feature.
Ofcom described the reports as “deeply concerning,” saying in a statement that the undressed images of people “may amount to intimate image abuse or pornography — and sexualiszed images of children… may amount to child sexual abuse material.”
The office of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the investigation and said Ofcom “has our full support to take any action it sees fit.”
A Downing Street spokesperson added, per an Agence France-Presse news story: “We won’t hesitate to go further to protect children online and strengthen the law as needed.”
Britain’s Online Safety Act says social media and video-sharing platforms hosting potentially harmful content are required to implement strict age verification and are not allowed to create or share non-consensual intimate images, or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created with AI. Ofcom has the power to impose fines of 10 per cent of worldwide revenue for breaches of these rules.
What has been Canada’s reaction?
Last week, Starmer was said to be in talks with officials in Canada and Australia about mounting a combined response.
The initial response seemed strong when, several days ago, A.I. Minister Evan Solomon posted to X: “Deepfake sexual abuse is violence. We must protect Canadians, especially women and young people, from exploitation.”
Deepfake sexual abuse is violence.
— Evan Solomon (@EvanLSolomon) January 8, 2026
We must protect Canadians, especially women and young people, from exploitation. Platforms and AI developers have a duty to prevent this harm.
Our government is continuing to advance responsible AI, including introducing Bill C-16, the…
However, in the early hours of Sunday morning, he followed up that message to clarify: “Contrary to media reports, Canada is not considering a ban of X.”
What was Elon Musk’s reaction?
According to the New York Times , Musk’s reaction to Britain’s call for a ban was to label the U.K. government as “fascist,” while also boasting that the controversy had led to more downloads of the app.
However, when games developer Tim Sweeney posted to X on Canada’s decision not to ban the platform, Musk responded briefly with just two emojis: a Canadian flag and a heart.
????????❤️ https://t.co/b6BEdLxz1R
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2026
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.