Smilla Holmberg’s welcome video at Arsenal

ARSENAL has turned off comments on its social media posts announcing the exciting signing of 19-year-old player Smilla Holmberg.

Pictures and videos publicising Ms Holmberg’s arrival at the club were posted on X and Instagram, but replies were later restricted amid speculation that there had been a glut of comments about her appearance rather than her expert football skills.

The concerns come in a week which has seen Elon Musk, the owner of the X platform, formerly Twitter, face calls to halt access to its AI tool Grok.

The software has been used to create fake and often non-consensual images of women undressed or in bikinis.

Thousands of such requests were made every day to Grok over the New Year period.

Other AI services such as ChatGPT block requests of this nature.

Women in sport are also facing abusive messages about their appearance if they fail to win a match.

“Arsenal having to take down an announcement video and moderate comments (you know exactly why they’ve done it) is proof-positive that this app is infected with so many of the wrong sort,” said one concerned X user.

“Special moment ruined for a talented footballer getting a dream move.”

Another said: “Sometimes it feels like we’re actually making progress with men not being dicks about women’s football… and then Arsenal has to delete a video introducing Smilla Holmberg… because men still can’t behave themselves.”

The media regulator Ofcom said on Monday that it is investigating concerns that Grok is producing sexualised images of women and children without their consent.

When asked about the allegations, Grok said it takes them “very seriously”, adding: “Non-consensual deepfakes targeting women or anyone else are also wrong and degrading. Users prompting or sharing illegal/harmful content face consequences, including account suspension.”

Arsenal is not commenting as to why it turned off comments on its posts.

But in 2025 the club said it was using data specialists to identify and “unmask” abusers.

Around 4,500 posts have been tracked as abusive towards the players this season.

Richard Garlick, Arsenal’s chief executive, said the club treats online abuse with “swift and decisive action” including “escalating incidents to law enforcement where appropriate”.