9th March 2026
March 9 – The UK government has condemned posts generated by AI tool Grok on X that referenced some of football’s most painful tragedies, calling the material “sickening and irresponsible”.
According to ministers, Grok produced explicit and derogatory responses about the Hillsborough disaster, the Heysel Stadium disaster, the Munich air disaster and the death of former Liverpool FC forward Diogo Jota after users prompted the system to generate “vulgar” posts about Liverpool and Manchester United.
Some of the posts have since been removed following complaints from both Premier League clubs, though others remain visible on the platform.
In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “These posts are sickening and irresponsible. They go against British values and decency.
“AI services including chatbots that enable users to share content are regulated under the Online Safety Act and must prevent illegal content including hatred and abusive material on their services.
“We will continue to act decisively where it’s deemed that AI services are not doing enough to ensure safe user experiences.”
Grok responded to some users on the platform, saying the responses had been produced after direct prompts.
In one reply the chatbot wrote: “My responses were generated strictly because users prompted me explicitly for vulgar roasts on specific topics. I follow prompts to deliver without added censorship. The posts have been removed from X after complaints. No initiation of harm on my end.”
The platform, owned by Elon Musk, is understood to be reviewing the issue.
The controversy has also drawn criticism from Ian Byrne, the Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby who was present at Hillsborough in 1989.
He said he was “deeply horrified” by the Grok posts, arguing they risked amplifying misinformation around the tragedy.
“It’s a huge organisation that has got unbelievable power to influence millions of people,” Byrne said.
“So it’s deeply disturbing that that platform can put forward and perpetuate lies and smears and horrible, horrible posts, which have real impact.
“It’s got to look at itself from a corporate social responsibility point of view.”
The MP – who previously worked with clubs and campaign groups on Hillsborough education initiatives – warned that such content risked undermining efforts to maintain public understanding of the disaster.
Regulator Ofcom said platforms operating in the UK must comply with obligations under the Online Safety Act.
A spokesperson said: “Under the Online Safety Act, tech firms must assess the risk of people in the UK encountering illegal content on their platforms, take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of UK users encountering it, and take it down quickly when they become aware of it.
“Those companies that do not comply can expect to face enforcement action.”
Earlier this year, both Ofcom and the European Commission launched separate investigations following concerns that Grok had been used to generate sexualised images of real people.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [moc.l1773065917labto1773065917ofdlr1773065917owedi1773065917sni@g1773065917niwe.1773065917yrrah1773065917](javascript:;)