Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has told MPs that creating non-consensual intimate images will become a criminal offence from this week.

The Government will also criminalise apps which allow users to create nude fake images of people

Ms Kendall labelled AI-generated images of women “tied up and gagged, with bruises, covered in blood and much, much more” as being “weapons of abuse”.

Making a statement in the Commons on Monday, Ms Kendall said the Internet Watch Foundation “reports criminal imagery of children as young as 11, including girls sexualised and toddlers”.

She continued: “This is child sexual abuse.

“We’ve seen reports of photos being shared of women in bikinis, tied up and gagged, with bruises, covered in blood, and much, much more.

“Lives can and have been devastated by this content which is designed to harass, torment and violate people’s dignity. They are not harmless images.

“They’re weapons of abuse, disproportionately aimed at women and girls, and they are illegal.”

Media watchdog Ofcom launched an investigation into whether Elon Musk’s social media platform X has breached UK law after reports its AI chatbot Grok was used to create and share sexualised images of children.

But Ms Kendall said the regulator’s investigation must not take “months and months”.

Downing Street has indicated that it is willing to consider leaving X, formerly known as Twitter, if Mr Musk’s company did not act.

Meanwhile Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said banning X is “the wrong answer”.

The leader of the opposition and Shadow Education Secretary Laura Trott discussed social media restrictions for children with concerned parents at The Phene Pub on Monday.

When Mrs Badenoch was asked in an interview if she supports the banning of X in the UK or any restrictions being placed on Elon Musk’s social media site, Mrs Badenoch said: “I think banning X is the wrong answer. I’m not even sure what question it is that they’re answering.

“What we are seeing is a Labour Government that did not have a plan, and they’re just throwing out random policies, probably to distract from the fact that they’re putting businesses in a very difficult position. What was happening was the business rates discussion, lots of pubs complaining, and then all of a sudden, Labour talks about banning X. I don’t think that’s a serious solution.”

Grok, developed by another company founded by Mr Musk called xAI, launched a new advanced image generation feature in July last year.

But its use for creating nude deepfake images has become widespread over the last few weeks, prompting condemnation from the Government and the Ofcom probe.

Mr Musk accused the UK Government of being “fascist” and trying to curb free speech.

Responding to a post on X claiming the UK arrests more people for social media posts than “any other country on earth”, Mr Musk wrote: “Real fascism is arresting thousands of people for social media posts.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also expressed fears the Government will end up “suppressing free speech”.

Speaking at a press conference in central London, Mr Farage also said: “Do we like and welcome the particular feature on Grok that has made the news over the weekend? No.”