UK officials at risk of US travel ban over X
UK government officials could face travel bans to the United States if they block Elon Musk’s social media platform X over its AI service Grok, which has been criticized for generating sexually explicit images of women and children.
On Monday night, U.S. officials warned that they had the “right to up the ante” and implement restrictions if Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer follows through on threats to restrict the platform, News.Az reports, citing The Telegraph.
UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the government plans to introduce a new offence this week criminalizing the creation of sexualized non-consensual AI images, as part of efforts to clamp down on the platform.
Ms Kendall said she would also make creating the images a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, meaning sites such as X would have to prove they are taking steps to prevent the images.
Ofcom, the technology and media regulator, will also be given new powers to pursue companies that allow the hosting and sharing of the images on their sites, Ms Kendall said.
Ofcom first made contact with X a week ago, giving it a deadline of Friday to provide evidence about how it was dealing with online safety laws. It said it had launched the investigation after an “expedited assessment” of this evidence.
It said it had the power to block X from the UK if the company did not comply with its investigation.
Following the news, a state department source told The Telegraph that “UK officials could face being barred from the US over plans to ban X”.
Another warned that “all options are on the table” if the British Government makes good on its threats.
The unprecedented proposal to ban sitting British government officials from entering the US would mark an extraordinary escalation in transatlantic tensions over freedom of speech.
Officials have already drawn up plans to subpoena Ofcom staff should they set foot in the US, where they will be questioned on their involvement in censoring the tech company, The Telegraph understands.
“Figures in Washington are planning to question officials that travel to the United States, either at the border or in the country itself, possibly even subpoenaed,” a source with knowledge of the discussions said.
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