Blocking X: Safety First or Slippery Slope? Episode 615

In this episode of Niall Asks, Niall is joined by journalist Ian O’Doherty to unpack the growing international row over Elon Musk’s social media platform, X — and the far bigger question it raises for modern society.

Following reports that Downing Street has held talks with Canada and Australia about a potential ban on X, the discussion centres on concerns over AI-generated “deepfake” images, including explicit content involving women and children, created using Musk’s AI tool, Grok. UK ministers have warned they could go as far as banning the platform entirely under online safety legislation if certain features are not removed.

But critics argue this is less about protecting users and more about state overreach and censorship. Musk has accused the UK government of authoritarianism, while figures aligned with Donald Trump have warned of diplomatic fallout if X is blocked — a move that would place Britain alongside regimes such as China, Iran and Russia in restricting the platform.

Niall puts the key question to Ian: Is social media — and X in particular — ultimately doing more good than harm to society?
Or has the combination of AI, weak regulation, and ideological policing pushed us towards a tipping point?

A robust discussion on free speech, responsibility, technology, and whether governments can be trusted to decide what the public is allowed to see and say.