Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan Can Government actually hold Elon Musk and Grok to account?
Jan 16, 2026
Join political correspondent Harry McGee, journalist Ellen Coyne, and London correspondent Mark Paul as they delve into the explosive Grok app controversy. They discuss the legal loopholes surrounding non-consensual intimate images and the urgent need for updated regulations. The conversation also touches on the staggering energy consumption of a Dublin data center and the political fallout from Robert Jenrick's defection to Reform UK, analyzing its implications for the Conservative Party and the broader climate of UK politics.
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Legal Loophole Around Deepfake Generation
- Grok can generate intimate non-consensual images but current Irish law criminalises sharing, not generation.
- That legal gap makes enforcement slow and limits regulators' ability to stop harm at source.
Use Existing Rules To Force Action
- Regulators should pursue tools beyond slow new laws, like evidence-gathering under existing rules and targeted enforcement.
- Use the Digital Services Act and regulator investigations to compel platform action quickly.
Platforms Push The Legal Limit
- Big platforms test legal boundaries and will push to the line rather than act morally.
- Relying solely on moral appeals to firms like X is ineffective; legal and regulatory pressure is needed.
