Imkaan Is Leaving X    |    Full Statement

From Friday 6th February 2026, Imkaan will no longer be using X (formerly Twitter).

We’re making this move because X has become an environment where misogyny, racism, harassment and disinformation are repeatedly amplified, violence against women and girls (VAWG) is increasingly normalised and treated as acceptable collateral, and women and girls - especially those from Black and minoritised communities - are placed at heightened risk.

Imkaan is a Black and minoritised feminist organisation working for and with specialist ‘by and for’ services addressing violence against women and girls. We exist to strengthen a national network of organisations supporting Black and minoritised women and girls; many of whom are already navigating intersecting harms linked to racism, immigration insecurity, poverty and exclusion. Any platform that permits, boosts, or monetises abuse against these women is fundamentally in conflict with our history, our values and our purpose. We cannot justify maintaining a presence on a platform whose current direction and safeguards sit in direct conflict with our ethical, moral and safeguarding responsibility.

Recent events have sharpened what many women’s organisations have been warning about for years: online spaces are not separate from violence but can normalise and escalate it. In recent months, there have been serious concerns raised about AI-enabled image generation being used to create and circulate non-consensual sexualised deepfakes of females, including content involving children, connected to X’s integrated tool Grok.

This is not a one-off ‘technical issue’. It is a window into the platform’s wider culture of misogyny and the ease with which sexual harm can be produced and spread at scale. Restricting the feature to only be accessible to paying subscribers was harm disguised as safeguarding; a business decision that sidestepped accountability. Under the Online Safety Act, sharing images or threatening to share them is a criminal offence - for individuals, and for platforms. The Data Act, passed last year, also made it a criminal offence to create or request the creation of non-consensual intimate images. The lack of swift, meaningful protections and regulation has left us unconvinced that X considers violence against women and girls to be the urgency and serious issue that it is; and signals that abuse will be tolerated when it serves the platform’s growth or revenue.

Alongside this, X has become an increasingly permissive space for racist hate, harassment and misinformation to circulate with little visible consequence. Harmful narratives are allowed to spread, be repeated, and be rewarded. Not only does this poison public debate and embolden perpetrators, but when those narratives spill offline, the harm is no longer contained to a screen. It shows up in intimidation, violence, and targeted abuse against Black and minoritised communities. We saw this clearly after the 2024 Southport murders, when misinformation, harmful narratives and hostile environments spread rapidly, fuelling anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiment and resulting in intimidation, violence, and targeted abuse. This is what happens when a platform rewards reach and outrage while failing to take responsibility for predictable, preventable harm.

For Imkaan, this is a safeguarding issue as much as it is a values issue. We will not help normalise, legitimise, or drive engagement toward a platform where the abuse of women and girls, and the lived realities of survivors is repeatedly dismissed, distorted or mocked – and treated as a problem to be managed after harm occurs, rather than prevented.

While we welcome the government’s recognition that the misuse of Grok as an isolated tool is a form of technology-based sexual abuse, they must also recognise the wider online environments that amplify violence and abuse, and how they disproportionately affect Black and minoritised women and girls. Until there are clear accountability, effective regulation, and meaningful enforcement, across the platform - abuse will continue to go unchecked, and perpetrators will act with impunity, with little deterrent or consequences. The UK government has a mission of tackling violence against women and girls. For this to be possible, they must uphold their responsibility to protect the safety of women and girls from illegal and harmful content online, in the same manner that they do offline. It is crucial that protections and duties on platforms are properly resourced, transparently monitored, and robustly applied to keep all women and girls safe - and especially Black and minoritised women and girls, including migrant women. Any approach must be survivor-centred and grounded in the lived experiences of those most harmed, including specialist ‘by and for’ services. It must also confront the way far-right actors weaponise misogyny and racism online, using major platforms to mainstream hate, target minoritised communities, and normalise violence against women and girls for political influence.

If you have been questioning whether staying on X aligns with your values, we encourage you to consider stepping away too, and to join conversations in spaces that are safer, more accountable, and more respectful.

We will continue sharing our work, evidence, and sector updates through other channels:

• Website: Right here on imkaan.org.uk (including our Members directory which signposts ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised specialist organisations across the UK – linked below)

• LinkedIn: Connect with us over on LinkedIn @Imkaan

• Bluesky: We have also just joined Bluesky @imkaanuk
  

If you or someone you know needs support, please use our website to access our members’ contact information. If you are in immediate danger, please call 999.