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UK Vows Further Steps to Crack Down on Deepfake ‘Nudification’ Apps

By  |  January 13, 2026

Just hours after Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, said it will investigate the Elon Musk’s X platform over its hosting sexualized deepfake images generated by its Grok AI chatbot the government said it will begin implementing a law that makes it a crime to create or request the creation of such images without consent.

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    Under the Online Safety Act, it is illegal to share deepfake images in the U.K. but does not specifically mention AI. A separate law, the law, the Data (Use and Access) Act, makes it a crime to create or request creation of such images.

    The Data Act has been on the books since June 2025, but the government has not yet fully implemented the law. Speaking in the House of Commons Monday, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the law “will be brought into force this week,” according to the BBC.

    Further, Kendall said, the government will seek to amend the Crime and Policing Bill currently pending in Parliament to criminalize so-called nudification apps such as Grok’s “racy mode” that can modify images of a person to remove their clothing and portray them nude.

    Images of women modified by Grok without consent to show them in bikinis or underwear have recently flooded X, along with sexualized images of children. But Musk’s platform has so far resisted demands to remove them on free speech grounds.

    If it continues to refuse, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in comments to Labour MPs Monday, X could lose the “right to self-regulate,” per BBC. “If X cannot control Grok we will,” he added.

    Related: UK’s Regulator Probes Elon Musk’s X Over Grok Deepfake Concerns

    In her remarks in Commons, Kendall said responsibilities for such images “do not just lie with individuals for their own behavior,” adding, “the platforms that host such material must be held accountable, including X.”

    Referring to the planned amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, Kendall said, “This new criminal offence will make it illegal for companies to supply tools designed to create non-consensual intimate images, targeting the problem at its source.”

    In addition to those legislative measures, Kendall said, we expect technology companies to introduce the steps recommended by Ofcom’s guidance on how to make platforms safer for women and girls without delay.” If they do not, she added, “I am prepared to go further.”

    If X is found to have violated the Online Safety Act Ofcom could issue a fine of up to 10% of its worldwide revenue or £18 million ($24.2 million), whichever is greater, per the BBC.

    The additional legislative steps promised by the government, if enforced against X or other U.S.-based companies, could inflame tensions between No. 10 and the White House. Since taking office last January, the Trump administration has been highly critical of Europe’s technology regulations.

    At the AI Summit in Paris in February, Vice President J.D. Vance blasted the EU’s regulation of U.S. AI companies. “We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry,” Vance said, per Reuters. “We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship.