UK slams ‘insulting’ X move to paywall deepfake tool
POLITICO - Friday, January 9, 2026LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer attacked X’s decision to make its controversial AI image generation feature only available to users with paid subscriptions.
In recent weeks X’s AI image generation feature has been used to produce a flood of nonconsensual sexualized images, including of women and children, drawing condemnation from lawmakers around the world.
X said in a statement that limiting the feature to paid subscribers “helps ensure responsible use while we continue refining things.”
The U.K. government disagrees. “That simply turns an AI feature that allows the creation of unlawful images into a premium service,” a spokesperson for the prime minister said on Friday.
“It’s not a solution. In fact, it’s insulting to victims of misogyny and sexual violence. What it does prove is that X can move swiftly when it wants to do so,” they added.
X has been approached for comment.
Prime Minister Starmer said on Thursday that the issue of sexualized deepfakes proliferating on X was “disgraceful, it’s disgusting, and it’s not to be tolerated. X has got to get a grip of this, and Ofcom has our full support to take action in relation to this.”
The U.K.’s media regulator Ofcom said on Monday it was in urgent contact with X to ascertain whether an investigation under the Online Safety Act is warranted.