Report from The Guardian
In Brief – Ofcom, the UK regulator enforcing the Online Safety Act (OSA), has announced that X has agreed to strengthen its moderation of terrorist and hate-related content. The commitments stem from Ofcom’s discussions with the top social media platform to meet their OSA responsibilities as concerns over online extremism have intensified amid rising antisemitic incidents in the country. The platform has agreed to block access for British users to accounts linked to organizations banned under UK terrorism laws, review at least 85% of flagged illegal terrorist and hate content within 48 hours, and consult with outside experts when assessing reports of extremist material. Critics of X’s content moderation practice cautiously responded to the new commitments, with some arguing X still fails to adequately address racism and hate speech. Ofcom noted that the agreement does not end Ofcom’s scrutiny of xAI’s Grok’s image tool generating non-consensual intimate imagery.
Context – One of the unwritten rules of global digital regulation is that giant platforms will eventually conform to national rules in countries with big, important domestic markets. The UK’s Online Safety Act fits that bill, as does the EU’s Digital Services Act and recent entries from Brazil and Indonesia. Yes, X’s owner Elon Musk has often been outspoken criticizing “woke” content moderation demands, but he has also long said that X’s policy is to adhere to “national laws” in enforcing content moderation. Faced with Grok-generated regulatory scrutiny over sexually-suggestive AI-images earlier this year, he turned to this national law framework, saying that Grok would be limited to creating legal content in each market. Of all the digital policy issues animating the Trump Administration, fighting against what they believe is anti-populist online censorship is the only one with backing across the spectrum of US conservatives. Pushing back on anti-Semitic violence in the UK is not generally seen as anti-populist. However, the EU’s DSA investigation of X’s algorithms and content moderation remain a major potential international digital policy tripwire.