Elon Musk’s social media platform X has given formal commitments to the United Kingdom’s communications regulator to stem the spread of terrorist and hate material on its service, Ofcom announced Friday. The pledges — which include restricting UK access to accounts tied to proscribed terrorist groups and reviewing flagged illegal content within an average of one day — mark a concrete step by the platform after sustained pressure from regulators and civil society groups.
Ofcom said X will assess at least 85% of flagged terrorist or hate content within 48 hours of being reported by users. The company, which did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press, also agreed to work with outside experts to fix shortcomings in its reporting systems and to deliver quarterly performance data over the next year so the regulator can track compliance.
“This is of particular importance in the U.K. following a number of recent hate motivated crimes suffered by the country’s Jewish community,” said Oliver Griffiths, director of Ofcom’s online safety group. About 300,000 Jews live in Britain, and the community has endured a string of arson attacks, a double stabbing, and escalating online abuse that have kindled fear and anger.
The commitments are separate from an ongoing Ofcom investigation into X’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, which earlier this year generated and circulated nonconsensual deepfake images. Griffiths said the probe into whether Grok failed to protect users from illegal content remains active.
The Grok controversy has also drawn attention outside the UK. European Union regulators are examining whether X has done enough to curb the spread of illegal material, and last week French prosecutors sought charges against Musk and X that include denial of crimes against humanity. X has not publicly responded to the French action.