X has committed to reviewing reports of suspected illegal hate and terrorist content in the UK within an average of 24 hours. This agreement, accepted by the regulator Ofcom, includes a pledge to assess at least 85% of such reports within 48 hours to improve platform monitoring and safety.
Accelerated Review Timelines and Ofcom Oversight
Under new commitments accepted by the UK regulator Ofcom, the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X will attempt to review reports of suspected illegal hate and terrorist content in the UK within an average of 24 hours. This target specifically applies to content flagged through the company’s illegal content reporting tool. To ensure these speed requirements are met, X has also promised to assess at least 85% of such reports within a 48-hour window.
The agreement establishes a period of active monitoring. X is required to submit performance data to Ofcom every three months for a duration of one year. This data will allow the regulator to track whether the platform is meeting its stated targets and to assess the effectiveness of its internal moderation processes.
The commitments also address technical and procedural concerns regarding how content is flagged. X has agreed to engage with experts to improve its reporting systems. This move follows feedback from various organizations that had flagged multiple pieces of suspected illegal hate and terrorist content but remained uncertain whether their reports had been received or if any action had been taken by the platform.
Regulatory Pressure and Public Safety Concerns
The new pledges come as part of an ongoing Ofcom compliance programme that launched in December. The programme is designed to assess whether the world’s largest social media companies maintain adequate systems and processes for managing reports of illegal hate and terror material. Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom’s online safety director, described the commitments as a step forward
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The regulatory scrutiny follows specific safety concerns within the United Kingdom, including recent religiously-motivated crimes targeting Jewish communities. Griffiths noted that the regulator has evidence indicating that terrorist content and illegal hate speech is persisting on some of the largest social media sites
. Consequently, Ofcom has been challenging major platforms to implement firmer actions to mitigate these risks.
Ongoing AI Scrutiny and the Grok Investigation
While the primary focus of the recent announcement involves hate and terror content, X is facing separate regulatory pressure regarding its artificial intelligence capabilities. Ofcom has confirmed that a separate investigation into X’s AI assistant, Grok, is currently ongoing. This inquiry centers on concerns that the tool has been used to create sexualised images.
The investigation into Grok highlights the expanding complexity of the X ecosystem. Originally known as Twitter, the platform has evolved into a multi-functional application that includes live audio features like Spaces, Communities, long-form posts, and real-time AI integration. As the platform moves toward becoming a more integrated application, the scope of regulatory oversight is expanding from traditional text-based moderation to include the outputs of generative AI models powered by the platform’s real-time data.
