X marks the spot as Starmer seeks to balance online safety with trans-Atlantic diplomacy

2026 has started in similar fashion to 2025 for the government: embroiled in another controversy with the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. While last year saw Musk accuse the Prime Minister of being weak on the issue of grooming gangs, this time around it is Musk on the backfoot with the “digital undressing” of women and children through X’s AI chatbot, Grok, prompting serious concerns around online safety.  

Addressing Parliament yesterday, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall described the manipulation of images of women and children as “despicable and abhorrent”, calling on the regulator Ofcom to “use the full legal powers Parliament has given them” to take action against X. Ofcom is already investigating X for possible breaches of the Online Safety Act, with the regulator having the power to fine X up to 10% of its worldwide revenue if it is found to be in breach of regulations.  

In his typically abrasive style, Musk took to X to defend Grok, arguing that the government wanted “any excuse for censorship” of his platform. While Musk seeks to make this an issue of freedom of speech and evidence of yet further censorship from the government, polling shows almost complete public support for the government in banning digital undressing. 

While the legal and regulatory case against X may be straightforward, the wider political and diplomatic dynamics at play are anything but.  

The Prime Minister continues with the unenviable challenge of carefully managing diplomatic ties with Trump on the international stage, with Musk increasingly finding himself with Washington’s ear again after their unceremonious falling out last year. Musk and Trump were seen dining together in Mar-a-Lago following the US’s action in Venezuela, while Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also addressed the public at Starbase Texas. Musk’s Starlink has also been attracting attention for its role in the latest protests in Iran, providing uncensored communications channels in an otherwise heavily censored country. Whatever their squabbles on domestic policy, it is clear that there is a thawing in relations between Musk and Trump with the former being increasingly useful in the latter’s wider international goals.  

In this context then, Starmer will be increasingly cautious that an attack on Musk could be seen as an attack on Trump by proxy.  

For many in the Labour Party, this is not a fight they wish to shy away from. And, for many backbench MPs, taking on the world’s richest man with a media and tech empire as widespread as Musk’s is part of their reason for getting into politics in the first place.  

Conversations have been ongoing in Labour circles since Musk’s takeover about whether or not Labour MPs and a Labour government should even continue engaging on X, preferring instead platforms such as Bluesky. Starmer’s official account hasn’t posted since January 8, sparking some discussion as to whether Number 10 have effectively begun a boycott of the platform already.  

Though alternative platforms are available, the reality is that X remains the only real show in town for the wider Westminster ecosystem of journalists, commentators and think tankers wanting their latest news and gossip. Should the government and Labour MPs voluntarily leave the platform, the risk is an information black hole waiting to be filled by other voices.  

While the Ofcom investigation remains ongoing, this case has again highlighted the precariousness of Starmer’s diplomatic efforts with the Trump administration. Though it remains to be seen just how long Musk remains in Trump’s ear again, a very public war of words with the world’s richest man carries its own risks for the Prime Minister in his ongoing challenge to keep the president on board.