UK media regulator: Social media platform X promises to tackle hate and terrorist content

(Patria) - Social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, has pledged to tackle hate and terrorist content in the United Kingdom, the country's media regulator Ofcom said on Friday, AP reported.

Ofcom said X's public commitments include restricting access in the UK to profiles operated by or on behalf of terrorist groups banned by the country.

The platform has also promised to review suspicious illegal terrorist and hate content within an average of 24 hours and to assess 85% of material no later than 48 hours after users report it, officials said.

A spokesperson for X in the UK did not respond to AP's request for comment.

In response to concerns from some civil society groups that X has not acted after users reported illegal content, X will engage with experts on how to improve its reporting systems, Ofcom said.

X will provide quarterly performance data over a twelve-month period so that regular users can compare their performance against these goals.

The regulator said there is evidence that terrorist content and illegal hate speech "continue to exist" on social media and that it expects technology companies to take "decisive action".

"This is of particular importance in the UK following a series of recent hate-motivated crimes that the country's Jewish community has suffered," said Oliver Griffiths, director of Ofcom's online safety group.

The British Jewish community, numbering around 300,000 people, faces increasing attacks online and on the streets, including a series of arson attacks and a double stabbing that have caused fear and anger among Jews.

X and Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok faced intensified global scrutiny earlier this year after Grok, which can be accessed via X, produced deepfake photos without consent.

Ofcom responded by launching an investigation into whether Grok failed to protect users from illegal content, which, according to Griffiths, is ongoing.

The controversy surrounding Grok also resulted in European Union regulators targeting X over suspicions that it had not done enough to curb the spread of illegal content.

Meanwhile, French prosecutors last week sought indictments against Musk and X, including for denial of crimes against humanity.