Elon Musk Calls Criticism of X 'Excuse for Censorship'

Sun Jan 11 2026 06:10:30 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a recent statement, Elon Musk defended his platform X against accusations regarding its AI chatbot Grok creating non-consensual images as critics rally for accountability.

Elon Musk has pushed back against the backlash surrounding his platform X, claiming that critics are using the situation as an 'excuse for censorship.' The controversy arises from reports of X's AI, Grok, generating unwanted sexualized images, even of children. Amidst urgency from Ofcom and criticism from politicians, X has limited its AI features to subscribers only, drawing further accusations of negligence in addressing harmful content. As regulatory responses mount, the conversation around free speech and digital governance remains heated.

Elon Musk has said that critics of his social media site X are looking for any excuse for censorship, amid reports that X's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok was creating non-consensual sexualised images of people, including children.

Ofcom says it is conducting an urgent assessment of X in response, which has been backed by Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. She described the sexual manipulation of images of women and children as despicable and abhorrent, adding that she would expect to see an update from Ofcom in days.

X has now limited the use of the AI image function to those who pay a monthly fee, a change dubbed by Downing Street as insulting to victims of sexual violence.

The BBC has seen several examples of the free AI tool undressing women and putting them in sexual situations without their consent.

Ashley St Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, told BBC Newshour that Grok had generated sexualised photos of her as a child. St Clair accused the social media site of not taking enough action to tackle illegal content, including child sexual abuse imagery.

As of Friday morning, Grok was telling users asking it to alter images uploaded to X that image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: We urgently made contact [with X] on Monday and set a firm deadline of today [Friday] to explain themselves, to which we have received a response.

Kendall has said that Ofcom will have the government's full support if it makes the decision to block X in the UK.

Politicians have condemned Grok's use to generate non-consensual sexualised images, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling it disgraceful and members like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage urging further action against the platform.