X blocked searches for Taylor Swift after sexually explicit AI-generated images of the singer circulated on the social media platform, an executive said on Sunday.

The big picture: It was not immediately known whether X has taken such blocking action before, but the platform formerly known as Twitter has been criticized for its content moderation policies since the 2022 Elon Musk-led takeover.

• X CEO Linda Yaccarino has said X embraces an approach called "freedom of speech, not reach" — meaning it has zero tolerance for illegal content, but won't ban posts that are "lawful, but awful."

State of play: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the fake images on Friday "alarming" after some were viewed millions of times. She urged social media companies to act against "the spread of misinformation and nonconsensual, intimate imagery of real people."

• Searches for Swift's name were still returning the message "Something went wrong. Try reloading" as of 2:10am Monday ET.

Yes, but: Using Swift's full name in quotes, rearranging related search words or adding to them was still returning results.

What they're saying: "This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue," Joe Benarroch, head of business operations at X, said in a statement to media.

• Representatives for X did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Posting Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images is strictly prohibited on X and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards such content. Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts responsible for posting them. We're closely…

— Safety (@Safety) January 26, 2024

Go deeper: Yaccarino defends X over hate speech rise accusations

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.