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Social media platform X must act to comply with UK laws “immediately”, the Prime Minister has said as he welcomed reports the company had imposed new restrictions on its AI chatbot Grok.

Sir Keir Starmer said in a post on X that free speech “is not the freedom to violate consent”, adding: “Young women’s images are not public property, and their safety is not up for debate.”

The post is the Prime Minister’s first on X since January 8, when he appeared to step back from using the social media platform amid a row over Grok’s production of sexualised images of women and children.

On Wednesday night, X said it would prevent Grok “editing images of people in revealing clothes” and block users from generating similar images of real people in countries where it is illegal.

The move follows mounting pressure on X over images produced by Grok, including an Ofcom investigation in the UK and bans in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Sir Keir said: “I welcome that X is now acting to ensure full compliance with UK law it must happen immediately.”

And he reiterated his commitment to strengthen laws if necessary in order to prevent similar manipulation of images.

Earlier, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would not rest “until all social media platforms meet their legal duties”, while Downing Street sources said the change was a “vindication” for the Prime Minister’s tough stance on X.

Ofcom also welcomed the new restrictions, but said its investigation launched on Monday will continue as it seeks “answers into what went wrong and what’s being done to fix it”.

X owner Elon Musk had previously claimed Grok would refuse to produce illegal content and appeared to blame “adversarial hacking” for the chatbot’s generation of sexualised images.

In a statement posted on X, the company later said it would “geoblock the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal”.

Geoblocking prevents access to a feature for people based in particular countries, but the change still leaves open the possibility that it could be circumvented with a VPN.

The company said: “This adds an extra layer of protection by helping to ensure that individuals who attempt to abuse the Grok account to violate the law or our policies can be held accountable.”

The restriction will apply to all users, including paid subscribers, while image editing and creation will be limited to premium users.

Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said X’s response “shows how victims of abuse, campaigners and a show of strength from governments can force tech platforms to take action”.

And she called for more proactive measures from the Government to protect women and girls online, saying social media platforms could not be “left to regulate themselves”.

She said: “The cost of inaction is too great, with countless women and girls harmed before Grok’s image generation tools were disabled.

“We expect the Government to do more to ensure tech platforms can’t profit from online abuse.”