After several weeks where X.com’s Grok AI tool has been used by people to create sexualised images of people – including children – I spoke in the House of Commons to ask the Government to encourage all online platforms to work with Exeter-based South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) to crack down on intimate image abuse on their sites.
Having visited SWGfL and seen the ground-breaking work they do, I wanted to highlight their part in the Stop Non-Consensual Image Abuse programme (StopNCII.org) that is available to anyone who has had intimate images of themselves shared online.
The programme lets users create a unique digital fingerprint, called a hash, of their image, which is then shared with participating platforms. If a hashed image is uploaded, it is automatically blocked. As of March 2025, more than a million hashes had been created, which just goes to show how widespread the problem has become.
In her response to me, the Secretary of State acknowledged that this could be a practical solution to the emerging challenges brought by AI and asked that I send her some more details, which I’ve now done, along with an invite for her to meet with SWGfL so that the Government and Ofcom can make use of their expertise.
I’m incredibly proud of Exeter’s role in developing this innovative technology which has the potential to dramatically curb the sharing of non-consensual images online.
Nobody should live in fear that their images are going to be sexually manipulated. Together we can put an end to this abuse.
