2 days ago

Laura Cress,Technology reporterand

Chris Vallance,Senior technology reporter

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Campaigners have accused the government of dragging its heels on implementing a law which would make it illegal to create non-consensual sexualised deepfakes.

It comes amid a backlash against images created using Elon Musk's AI Grok to digitally remove clothing - with one woman telling the BBC more than 100 sexualised images have been created of her.

It is currently illegal to share deepfakes of adults in the UK, but new legislation that would make it a criminal offence to create or request them is still not in force despite passing in June 2025.

But it is unclear whether all of the unclothing images created by Grok would fall foul of this law. The BBC has contacted the government for comment.

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

It comes as the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, addressing concerns over sexualised images of adults and children produced by Grok, called it "disgraceful" and "disgusting".

"It's not to be tolerated," he said, speaking to Greatest Hits Radio.

"X has got to get a grip on this, Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this.

"This is wrong."

Grok can be accessed through its website and app, or by tagging "@grok" in posts on the social media platform X.

But Andrea Simon from End Violence Against Women said by not putting the law into effect, the government had "put women and girls in harm's way".

"Non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes are a clear violation of women's rights and have a long-lasting, traumatic impact on victims," she said.

"For women using platforms like X, the threat of this abuse can also mean they feel the need to self-censor and change their behaviour, restricting their freedom of expression and participation online."

"This is not solely a criminal justice issue but an issue of regulating a tech ecosystem that facilitates and profits from violence against women and girls."

On Tuesday, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall demanded X "deal with this urgently", calling the situation "absolutely appalling".

The regulator Ofcom said it had made "urgent contact" with X and xAI, which built Grok, on Monday and told the BBC it was investigating concerns.

Both Kendall and Downing Street have backed the regulator taking action, with the Prime Minister's spokesperson adding on Wednesday "all options remained on the table".

The Ministry of Justice told the BBC: "It is already an offence to share intimate images on social media, including deepfakes, without consent.

"We refuse to tolerate this degrading and harmful behaviour, which is why we have also introduced legislation to ban their creation without consent."

'Violation of women's rights'

The current law says it is illegal to generate pornographic deepfakes when used in revenge porn or depicting children.

A provision in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 criminalised the creation or commissioning of "purported intimate images" - or deepfakes - Lorna Woods, Professor of Internet law at Essex University, told the BBC.

But a year on from first announcing a crackdown on the offence, the government has still not brought a key legal provision that could target those asking Grok to make sexualised deepfakes of women, experts and campaigners have told the BBC.

Professor Woods said this offence "would seem to be a good fit for some of the images that have been created using Grok" but it had not yet been brought into force.

Meanwhile the EVAW's Simon questioned why the secondary legislation needed to make creating sexual deepfakes a crime had still not happened, given they were "a clear violation of women's rights".

"This law has still not come into force," she said, "nor has a date been set for when this will take place".

Conservative peer Baroness Owen, who campaigned for the legal change in the House of Lords, told the BBC the government had "repeatedly dragged its heels" to bring the rules into effect.

"We cannot afford any more delays," she said.

"Survivors of this abuse deserve better.

"No one should have to live in fear of their consent being violated in this appalling way."

And cross-bench peer Baroness Beeban Kidron told the BBC: "Technology moves fast, and this legislation is supposed to plug an existing gap, so there is no excuse for delay."

'It's disgusting'

The BBC has spoken to several women who have had pictures they posted of themselves on X turned into deepfakes by the Grok AI.

Grok is a free tool which users typically tag underneath other people's comments with prompts to give a reaction or context.

More recently, people have been able to use the chatbot to alter pictures they or other people have uploaded by tagging it and including a text prompt - even if that includes undressing them or putting them in sexualised poses.

Evie told the BBC while she noticed people started to reply to pictures of herself asking Grok to put her in a bikini a few months ago, the latest update had made it "easier" for users to do, and the pictures looked "more realistic".

She says she now has had at least 100 sexualised images of herself created through the AI assistant, so many so that she has given up reporting them all due to the "mental strain" involved in viewing them.

As well as having to look at the images herself, the idea of loved ones seeing her in sexual or undressed poses has also made staying on X very difficult for her.

"My family follow me on there, my friends, my co-workers," she said.

"Knowing that all the people I care about in my life can see me like that... it's disgusting."

Dr Daisy Dixon is another female X user who told the BBC she has seen an increase in people using Grok to undress her, particularly using her profile picture.

She said the pictures left her feeling "humiliated" - and said the fact Grok automatically commented the altered images at her left her feeling as if she had been assaulted.

"To have that power move of posting it back to you - it's like saying 'I have control over you and I'm going to keep reminding you I have control over you'," she said.

"We don't want to dilute the concept, but it feels like a kind of assault on the body."

And X users such as Evie say action needs to happen now.

"There's so many places online that you can do this, but the fact that it was happening on Twitter with the built in AI bot - this is crazy this is allowed," she said.

"Why is this allowed and why is nothing being done about it?"