Civil service concern

THIS must be a “tipping point” for the rule of law online, technology secretary Liz Kendall told the House of Commons earlier this week. X owner Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool helped that site’s users make sexist harassment the viral new year trend of 2026. Politicians across the world declared it was “appalling” and “unacceptable”. The challenge is to turn that declaratory rhetoric into action. Britain’s media regulator Ofcom will open a formal investigation.

The controversy has illuminated again how US billionaire businessman Musk takes a “pick and mix” approach as to which laws he thinks should apply to him and his companies. Even libertarian site owners tend to recognise some responsibility to remove child sexual abuse. But Musk was laughing about the nudification trend. He is contemptuous about laws curbing hate crime and the incitement of violence, saying they are signs Britain has a “fascist” government which must be overthrown. What is vital is that our government and regulators do not risk emulating Musk’s “pick and mix” approach to when unlawful content really matters. Ofcom states it will not “hesitate to investigate” when it suspects companies are failing in their duties “especially where there’s a risk of harm to children”. This will be a popular public priority. Ofcom must this year show parliamentarians and the public that it can find the bandwidth and capacity to insist on sites meeting all of their legal duties.