Canada not considering a ban on X over deepfake controversy, AI minister says

OTTAWA — Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon says Canada isn’t considering a ban of the social media platform X, though his office says discussions about X’s deepfake controversy are underway.

The platform, which is owned by Elon Musk, has drawn global criticism over sexualized deepfakes created by X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, which have proliferated in recent weeks.

On Saturday, The Telegraph reported the U.K. government was gathering international support to respond to the controversy, with Canada sharing U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s concerns.

Regulator Ofcom is investigating, which could lead to X facing a ban in the U.K.

Just after midnight Sunday, Solomon said in a post on X that contrary to media reports, Canada is not considering a ban.

Asked whether the government is considering taking any other actions, or cooperating with the U.K. or other countries on another response, a spokesperson for Solomon said more information will be available soon.

Sofia Ouslis said discussions are being held “with allied governments and across Canadian government departments.”

The Liberal government has continued to use X despite the controversy.

In an earlier post, also on X, Solomon pointed to a government bill introduced late last year that would criminalize sexual deepfakes.

“Deepfake sexual abuse is violence,” Solomon wrote. “We must protect Canadians, especially women and young people, from exploitation. Platforms and AI developers have a duty to prevent this harm.”

Grok has also drawn criticism from the European Union’s executive arm and other countries, including France, India and Brazil.

Over the weekend, Malaysia and Indonesia said they would block access to Grok.

Grok Imagine, an AI image generator that allows users to create videos and pictures by typing in text prompts, was launched last year. It includes a so-called “spicy mode” that can generate adult content.

Late last month, Grok apparently began granting a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others.

In recent days, X has placed some restrictions on Grok image generation functions, limiting image generation on X to paying customers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2026.

–With files from the Associated Press