{"id":484626,"date":"2026-02-17T00:20:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484626\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T00:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T00:20:13","slug":"starmer-to-extend-online-safety-rules-to-ai-chatbots-after-grok-scandal-internet-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/484626\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer to extend online safety rules to AI chatbots after Grok scandal | Internet safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

Emboldened by Elon Musk\u2019s X stopping its Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people in the UK<\/a> after public outrage last month, ministers are planning a \u201ccrackdown on vile illegal content created by AI\u201d.<\/p>\n

With more and more children using chatbots for everything from help with their homework to mental health support, the government said it would \u201cmove fast to shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act or face the consequences of breaking the law\u201d.<\/p>\n

Starmer is also planning to accelerate new restrictions on social media use by children if they are agreed by MPs after a public consultation into a possible under-16 ban. It means that any changes to children\u2019s use of social media, which may include other measures such as restricting infinite scrolling, could happen as soon as this summer.<\/p>\n

But the Conservatives dismissed the government\u2019s claim to be acting quickly as \u201cmore smoke and mirrors\u201d given the consultation has not yet started.<\/p>\n

\u201cClaiming they are taking \u2018immediate action\u2019 is simply not credible when their so-called urgent consultation does not even exist,\u201d said Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary. \u201cLabour have repeatedly said they do not have a view on whether under-16s should be prevented from accessing social media. That is not good enough. I am clear that we should stop under-16s accessing these platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The moves come after the online regulator Ofcom admitted it lacked powers to act against Grok because images and videos that are created by a chatbot without it searching the internet are not in the scope of the existing laws, unless it amounts to pornography. The change to bring AI chatbots under the Online Safety Act could happen within weeks, although the loophole has been known about for more than two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is moving really fast, and the law has got to keep up,\u201d said Starmer. \u201cThe action we took on Grok sent a clear message that no platform gets a free pass. Today we are closing loopholes that put children at risk, and laying the groundwork for further action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies that breach the Online Safety Act can face punishments of up to 10% of global revenue and regulators can apply to courts to block their connection in the UK.<\/p>\n

If AI chatbots are used specifically as search engines, to produce pornography or operate in user-to-user contexts, they are already covered by the act. But they can be used to create material that encourages people to self-harm or take their own lives, or even generate child sexual abuse material, without facing sanction. That is the loophole the government says it wants to close.<\/p>\n

The chief executive of the NSPCC, Chris Sherwood, said young people were contacting its helpline reporting harms caused by AI chatbots and that he did not trust tech companies to design them safely.<\/p>\n

In one case, a 14-year-old girl who talked to an AI chatbot about her eating habits and body dysmorphia was given inaccurate information. In others, they have seen \u201cyoung people who are self-harming even having content served up to them of more self-harming\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media has produced huge benefits for young people, but lots of harm,\u201d Sherwood said. \u201cAI is going to be that on steroids if we\u2019re not careful.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI, the $500bn San Francisco startup behind ChatGPT, one of the UK\u2019s most popular chatbots, and xAI, which makes Grok, were approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Since the Californian 16-year-old Adam Raine took his own life after, his family allege, \u201cmonths of encouragement from ChatGPT\u201d, OpenAI has launched parental controls and is rolling out age-prediction technology to restrict access to potentially harmful content.<\/p>\n

The government is also to consult on forcing social media platforms to make it impossible for users to send and receive nude images of children \u2013 a practice that is already illegal.<\/p>\n

Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, said: \u201cWe will not wait to take the action families need, so we will tighten the rules on AI chatbots and we are laying the ground so we can act at pace on the results of the consultation on young people and social media.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Molly Rose Foundation, which was set up by the father of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who killed herself after viewing harmful content online, called the steps \u201ca welcome downpayment\u201d. But it called on the prime minister to commit to a new Online Safety Act \u201cthat strengthens regulation and makes clear that product safety and children\u2019s wellbeing is the cost of doing business in the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the UK, the NSPCC<\/a> offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac<\/a>) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp<\/a> abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline<\/a> on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation<\/a> on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helpline International<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-484626","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}