A US official specializing in freedom of expression described the British government’s threats against the “X” platform as similar to what happens in Russia under President Vladimir Putin.
The statements of the US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Sarah Rogers, came in the context of a series of criticisms she directed at London, considering that the potential British measures mimic the style of Moscow, according to the British news agency “PA Media.”
In a related context, Rogers stated that Britain is “considering banning the X platform in the Russian way, under the pretext of protecting people from swimsuit photos.”
It is worth mentioning that the communications regulator “Ofcom” had contacted the companies “X” and “X AI” regarding the production of pornographic images and images with sexual content for children, and is currently conducting an “urgent assessment” of the companies’ responses, according to the Associated Press.
In return, the British Minister of Technology, Liz Kendall, announced that the government would support “Ofcom” if it decided to impose a ban on access to “X” within the country, against the backdrop of using the artificial intelligence tool “Grok” in creating fake “deepfake” images.
“American Sympathy”
For his part, British Deputy Prime Minister David Lamy stated that US Vice President JD Vance had expressed sympathy with the efforts made to combat images produced by “Grok.”
Lamy, who met Vance in the United States on Thursday, explained to “The Guardian” newspaper that he raised the issue of “Grok” and “the terrible and disgusting situation that this new technology allows by allowing the falsification of images and the manipulation of images of women and children, which is completely abhorrent.”
He also added: “He agreed with me that this is absolutely unacceptable,” adding: “I think he realized how dangerous it is to manipulate images of women and children in this way, and how shameful and unacceptable it is, and I found him sympathetic to this position.”
On the other hand, businessman Elon Musk, owner of the company “X AI” that developed “Grok” and “X” on which the images were circulated, accused the British government of being “fascist” and seeking to restrict freedom of expression, after the ministers escalated their threats to actually block the site.
He believed that the British government is “looking for any excuse for censorship,” and that it “only wants to suppress freedom of expression.”
