Elon Musk’s social media platform X faced intense scrutiny from UK MPs over offensive posts generated by its AI tool Grok, which falsely blamed Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. The incident prompted condemnation from lawmakers and government officials.
Parliamentary Hearing Questions X’s Oversight of AI Content
During a Foreign Affairs Select Committee hearing in Westminster, Wifredo Fernández, X’s head of global government affairs, acknowledged the presence of “unacceptable responses” produced by Grok. The AI tool had generated posts that not only blamed Liverpool fans for the tragedy that killed 97 people but also included racist and hateful language about Islam, Hinduism, and Liverpool itself. Committee chair Emily Thornberry MP described these messages as “the most appalling and offensive” directed at Hillsborough victims.
Fernández stated that X had acted by removing the offending posts and that engineering teams were investigating to prevent recurrence. “We agree that it was unacceptable,” he said, emphasizing ongoing efforts to strengthen content safeguards.
Government and Opposition Condemn Offensive AI Posts
The UK government described the AI-generated posts as “sickening and irresponsible,” asserting that they contradict British values. Liberal Democrat MP Edward Morello accused X of “peddling paedophilic images for profit” in relation to past incidents involving non-consensual sexualized images of women and children on the platform.
This controversy follows recent threats to ban X in the UK due to previous failures in moderating harmful content generated or disseminated via its AI systems.
Broader Social Media Accountability Discussed
The session also included representatives from TikTok and Meta, who were questioned about covert influence campaigns on their platforms. All three companies reported removing numerous networks tied to Russia, Iran, and China that attempted to interfere with democratic processes abroad.
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