Social Media: Non-consensual Sexual Deepfakes

Charlotte Nichols Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Liz Kendall]

Non-consensual intimate images of women bloodied and bruised, women in bikinis and child sexual abuse are not freedom of speech—they are abuse.

[Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab)]

While X as a platform, and indeed some parties in this place, seem content to profit from the proliferation of illegal sexually abusive content, this Government are meant to practise what we preach on online safety and violence against women and girls. The public, like me, are baffled by hearing tough words from a Government who continue to not just use but prioritise X for their communications. If non-consensual deepfake pornography and child sex abuse imagery is not the red line for the Government to take their communications elsewhere, I ask the Secretary of State, what is?

[Liz Kendall]

My hon. Friend and I discussed this matter just last week. I completely agree with her that we need to get our views and voices out on a whole range of other platforms. I and many Ministers make that point regularly, and I think there is much more that we could do. We will keep the issue under review. As I spelled out in my statement, there is an argument, which the director general of the BBC made, about keeping a voice on a platform that is used by so many people, but I understand her concerns and we will keep this under review.