Reform councillor branded ‘abhorrent’ after comparing asylum seekers to online predators

Emily Price

A Reform UK councillor has been branded “abhorrent” after she compared asylum seekers to people who use deepfake platforms to sexualise children.

Mumbles Councillor Francesca O’Brien made the comparison on ITV’s Sharp End programme on Tuesday (January 13) during a discussion about sex images on Elon Musk’s social media site X.

Regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into X this week amid mounting concerns about the platform’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok which allows users to undress images of women and children.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the watchdog would have UK ministers’ full support to take action against X, including banning the platform in the UK, if it did not make changes.

Musk claimed he was unaware of Grok generating explicit images and accused ministers in Westminster of using the issue as an excuse to block free speech.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the sexual images produced by Grok as “horrible in every way” but warned that banning X would infringe on free speech.

He could be seen laughing in the House of Commons this week when he was called out for defending Musk on the issue.

Speaking on Sharp End, Cllr O’Brien said her party believed safeguarding should be better on all social media platforms, but added that Labour was using concerns about Grok to censor free speech.

She claimed the UK Government’s support for sanctioning X was because ministers “had a problem with Elon Musk anyway” and had a “hidden agenda”.

Representing Plaid Cymru on the programme, Delyth Jewell argued that “digital abuse is not about free speech.”

She warned how “sinister” use of the AI tool allowed X users to ask for images of women and children to be changed to show them wearing “the slimmest bikini”.

She said: “Musk’s decision on that was, ok there’s been criticism, so we’ll make this a premium service so you can pay still to do this.

“That just creates pornography as a perk for paying more money to a billionaire.”

Responsible

Welsh Conservative MS James Evans said there needed to be stricter rules for the social media companies but pointed out that blocking X in the UK could damage businesses.

Welsh Government minister Ken Skates said politicians wouldn’t even be having a debate about Grok if X behaved “in a responsible way”.

He said: “I think the threat, the ultimate sanction of a ban, is what is required to ensure that these people get into line and start prioritising child and women safety over making profit.”

Later during the programme, the panel discussed US President Donald Trump’s recent foreign activities and the threats against Greenland.

When Cllr O’Brien was invited to speak on the issue, she swerved back to comments made by Skates earlier in the show about the safety of women and children in the context of Grok.

She said: “Reform’s stance has been quite clear. We can understand Trump’s worry over China and Russia.

“However, we do believe that it should be up to the Greenland and the Denmark to choose their own future.

Immigration

She added: “Just sort of going back on Ken’s remarks, I know we are going back a step or two, but about women and childrens safety.

“It’s a little be laughable when we have mass uncontrolled immigration into the UK and yet we say about keeping women and children safe.

“So, I just want to make that point.”

Skates could be seen shaking his head as Cllr O’Brien spoke.

He said: “I’m astonished by that quite frankly – to compare asylum seekers to people who deliberately use deepfake platforms to sexualise children is just abhorrent I’m afraid.

“But maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, this is Reform through and through, a party of absolute hatred.”

Cllr O’Brien argued she had raised a “genuine concern” adding that she didn’t accept that her comments were “abhorrent”.

She said: “I don’t think people watching will agree with that either.”

Disagree

Plaid’s Delyth Jewell cut in, saying: “I think the vast majority of people watching are decent people who will utterly disagree with that equivalence.”

Speaking after Sharp End, Ken Skate told Nation.Cymru: “Given the bribery scandal involving Russia and Reform’s Nathan Gill, perhaps we should be asking whether Reform itself poses the greatest threat to our safety and security.”

In October, Nation.Cymru reported how O’Brien had chaired a meeting with parents and two notorious associates of Tommy Robinson to discuss “completely untrue” allegations about religious education at a Swansea school.

The meeting was also attended by far-right activist Peter May who last year featured in videos circulating online of him shouting “Pakistanis Pakistanis” into a megaphone outside a hotel in Rhoose that was housing Afghan refugees, many of which are women and children.

Cllr O’Brien defected from the Welsh Conservatives to Nigel Farage’s party in August last year, leaving the employment of South Wales West Senedd Member Tom Giffard.

She is expected to stand against her former employer at the Senedd election this year.