Ofcom says concerns persist over X's handling of illegal hate and terror content
The regulator has narrowed its investigation into X after the platform met agreed targets for reviewing reports more quickly, but said the rest of the inquiry will focus on illegal content and on the platform's reporting and complaints systems.
Ofcom has said it remains concerned about the effectiveness of X's response to illegal hate and terror content, even though the social media platform has met agreed targets for reviewing reports of suspect material more quickly. Publishing its latest assessment on Wednesday, the regulator said it had "ongoing concerns around the effectiveness of X's response to taking down illegal hate and terror content".
The assessment followed X's first quarterly performance report under formal commitments Ofcom accepted from X in May. Ofcom said the report showed X had met the agreed targets for reviewing reports of suspect content more quickly, and that its response times had improved.
The investigation began in January 2026, after reports that the Grok chatbot had been used to create and share sexualised images that could amount to illegal content, including deepfakes involving real people and children.
Ongoing concerns around the effectiveness of X's response to taking down illegal hate and terror contentOfcom, in a statement reported by Reuters
On age checks, Ofcom found that some users who had not verified their age could still access pornographic content on X. The regulator said X has since changed its systems so that such material is blocked consistently to under-18s and to users who have not verified their age.
Changes have also been made at Grok itself. SpaceXAI, the company formerly known as xAI, has introduced further restrictions on the standalone Grok service, under which UK users are blocked from viewing, generating or sharing pornographic content through it, and companion chatbots such as Ani are barred from sexually explicit conversations.
The remainder of the investigation will now focus on X's handling of illegal content and on its reporting and complaints systems, while Ofcom continues to monitor the company's age-check measures. If the regulator has reasonable grounds to believe X has failed in its duties, it will set out a provisional view before reaching a final decision.
Ofcom also said a survey of third-party experts who work with X had produced mixed reports about the company's engagement with them, Reuters reported. Neither X nor SpaceXAI immediately responded to a request for comment.
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