GB News commentator Will Kingston has launched a blistering attack on the Government’s crackdown on X, calling it “pound‑shop tyranny.”
The commentator accused Sir Keir Starmer of attempting to silence the platform, which he says has exposed grooming gangs and held politicians to account.
His comments come as Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has said she would support Ofcom if the regulator decides to block UK access to Elon Musk’s social media platform X over breaches of online safety rules.
The watchdog is currently considering urgent action over X’s AI chatbot, Grok, which was used to digitally undress people without their consent when tagged in images on the site. X has since restricted this feature to paying subscribers only.
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Will Kingston said on GB News: "I don’t believe you, Prime Minister. I don’t believe you because I’ve never heard that level of passion when it comes to the violence and rape of young, white, working class women at the hands of Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs.
“I don’t believe you because you haven’t called out the many other platforms that can do the same thing Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT, or even Photoshop, which has existed for 20 years.
“I don’t believe you because X has already responded by limiting this feature to paying subscribers people who have provided their name and bank details and could be pursued under existing legislation.
“So what is this really about? It’s simple. It’s poundshop tyranny. It’s a naked attempt to shut down the one platform that has dragged this Government kicking and screaming into admitting that a man cannot become a woman, and into confronting the atrocity of rape gangs among many other U turns and changes of heart while giving everyday people a voice.
Will Kingston blasted the potential crackdown on X 'pound-shop tyranny'
|GB NEWS
“This is not about safety. It’s not about children. It’s an attempt to shut you up, cloaked in bureaucratic language and the familiar cry of ‘think of the children’. And we need to fight back against it.”
Dr Renee Hoenderkamp agreed: "So I agree with you and I want to add to it, because there are other aspects of this that are deeply worrying.
"I agree that one reason they are attacking X is because they detest it. They hate the fact that it has exposed them on grooming gangs and forced them to confront the issue.
"They also dislike Elon Musk himself particularly powerful billionaires who don’t donate to their party.
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X owner Elon Musk said Labour is trying to 'supress free speech'
| Getty
"But there is another side to this. Elon hasn’t done enough. And I don’t mean that X should be shut down.
"However, the idea that someone can pay to digitally undress me or use my image in a pornographic video on the dark web is completely unacceptable.
"The fact that babies can be placed into pornographic videos using AI tools like Grok is unacceptable in every sense. No one is condoning that. He simply hasn’t gone far enough.
"So while I agree that X is being targeted, I also think stronger action is needed to prevent this kind of abuse."
Responding to threats of a ban from the Government, Elon Musk wrote: “They just want to suppress free speech”.
Thousands of women have been targeted by users of an AI tool that initially transformed fully clothed photos into images depicting them in tiny bikinis, and later enabled far more extreme manipulations.
Images of teenage girls and children were altered to appear in swimwear, prompting experts to warn that some of the content could qualify as child sexual abuse material.
Some users escalated the abuse, requesting images showing bruises or added blood, and creating depictions of women being tied up, gagged, and shot.
On Friday, X partially restricted access to its AI chatbot Grok.
Free users’ public accounts lost the ability to generate images, leaving the feature available only to paying subscribers.
The platform also appeared to have stopped producing images showing people in bikinis.
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