The Labour government has laid down a challenge to Elon Musk and other social media giants, promising to go after tech firms allowing online abuse on their platforms.
It comes as the government launches a new crackdown on explicit deepfakes, introducing a new offence meaning perpetrators could be charged for both creating and sharing these images.
Sitting down with The Independent, victims minister Alex Davies-Jones said the hyper-realistic images are “abusive, degrading and humiliating”, promising to tackle what she said was “an epidemic of a problem”.
Issuing a warning to tech platforms, she emphasised that Ofcom has robust powers to go after them if there is illegal activity happening on their sites.
“[Ofcom] has got teeth, and they’re robust enough to go after them”, she warned – pointing to the regulator’s powers to fine platforms up to £18m, or 10 per cent of their annual revenue, whichever is higher.
There are also criminal sanctions available to Ofcom to force tech firms to take action, Ms Davies-Jones highlighted, saying she is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to utilise the Online Safety Act to ensure tech companies are held to account.
“Once we create these new offences and we make these images illegal, then Ofcom has a duty to go after the platforms to say: ‘There’s illegal activity happening on your site. You need to remove it’”.
While Ms Davies-Jones admitted that the legislation will be “very difficult to police”, she said the government is working with the College of Policing to ensure forces have the expertise and resources needed to go after the individual perpetrators of these crimes.
Ministers have warned that the proliferation of these hyper-realistic images has “grown at an alarming rate, causing devastating harm to victims, particularly women and girls who are often the target”. One in three women are victims of online abuse, the Ministry of Justice estimates.
“It is horrific. From speaking to victims and survivors of these crimes, it is abusive, it is it’s degrading, it’s humiliating”, the victims minister said.
“It makes you feel worthless because you don’t know who has seen these images. You’re walking down the street, you’re in your workplace. You have no idea who may have seen them, if they’ve been shared or they’ve been created.”
“Part of the issue is that these can be such hyper realistic images, so it’s really, really difficult to tell what’s fake and what’s not. So it’s really important that we get the legislation right, but that we tackle this, because this is an epidemic of a problem”, she added.
It comes amid an explosive row between Sir Keir Starmer and X owner Mr Musk, which broke out after the Tesla boss criticised the government for rejecting a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.
Over Christmas, he launched into a furious tirade on social media, sharing a flurry of posts accusing home office minister Jess Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist” who “deserves to be in prison”.
He has also claimed that the prime minister is complicit in the scandal and criticised his handling of it while he was director of public prosecutions, triggering the PM to come out fighting on Monday, using a speech on the NHS to hit back at “lies and misinformation” on social media.
On Monday, it emerged that a man has been charged with sending malicious communications to Ms Phillips just days after criticism from Elon Musk – a case Ms Davies-Jones said highlights how violence against women and girls is a national emergency.
“It’s not just MPs”, she said. “It happens to everyone, and this is why we need to tackle it, and that’s why this government is determined to act.”
The victims minister also dismissed Mr Musk’s calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs – demands which have been echoed by the Tories and Reform – emphasising that the UK has already conducted a national inquiry into the scandal.
“It was very wide ranging, took seven years to complete and over £100 million [was spent]. Professor Alexis Jay has been very clear that she wants action and less words.
“We don’t need another national inquiry. What we need now is to work through those recommendations at pace to make sure that we can work with victims and survivors to get them justice”, she said.
Her remarks came just hours after Professor Jay, chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA), backed Sir Keir by saying there is no need for a new national investigation into the issue.
In a pointed intervention, she said those “whipping up” the current furore do not have the interests of victims at heart and instead called for the recommendations to be implemented.
Ms Davies-Jones also issued a warning to Mr Musk and others on social media over the recent commentary on the grooming gangs scadal, saying it is “incumbent on everyone to be mindful of how they treat the issue of violence against women and girls”.
“We all have a responsibility here, and first and foremost, my duty is to the victims and survivors, and I want to listen to them”, she said.
“I think we should be platforming them, hearing from them, directly in their voices and how we can best deliver for them. You know, over 7,000 of them gave evidence to the National Inquiry into child sexual abuse and exploitation. They have spoken, and it is time that we deliver justice for them.”
