David Vance SubstackRead More
Here is a short list of countries that ban Elon Musk’s X platform.
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China
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Iran
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North Korea
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Turkmenistan
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Myanmar
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Russia
Might the UK be next to join this list? We read today that;
The UK government is considering a ban on Elon Musk’s social media platform X under the Online Safety Act (quelled surprise) due to the use of its AI chatbot Grok to generate sexualised deepfake images, including illegal child abuse material. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called the content “disgraceful” and instructed regulator Ofcom to explore “all options,” including blocking access for UK users.
Let’s take this threat apart, bit by bit.
Firstly, it is already illegal to use Grok to make sexualised image and anyone found doing it will be removed. I have yet to see ANY of the sort of images that the Government is talking about and I am active on X (@DVATW) – all I have seen is some immature people saying “Put Rachel Reeves in. bikini” kind of thing. Believe me, no one wants that! Further, aren’t there other AI’s that could do this, and worse?
Secondly, this is a convenient pretext to try and take down X by Labour. They cannot stand the idea that people can have free speech, they want controlled speech. They want you getting your news from “authoritative” and “trustworthy” places liked the BBC!!!
Third, it is just vain bluster! If Starmer tries to sanction Musk, Trump will sanction Starmer. Checkmate!
Can Starmer not see the atrocious optics of the UK being aligned with China and North Korea? Or maybe he sees it but simply doesn’t care?
The real issue here is the UK On-line Safety Act. This is the trojan horse which the Conservatives put in place and which Labour has further weaponised via Ofcom. The purpose of this is to try and turn Ofcom into the GLOBAL regulator of on-line speech and this is where there will be an almighty clash with President Trump and his free speech USA. There will only be one winner but in the meantime, on-line free speech is severely under threat from Gauleiter Starmer.
