In a response to mounting concerns over harmful AI-generated content, both Indonesia and Malaysia have moved to block access to Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, citing risks associated with AI-generated sexualised and non-consensual imagery.
On January 10, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs temporarily blocked access to Grok after widespread reports that users were exploiting the tool to generate sexually explicit deepfake images — some depicting scantily clad minors — without consent.
A report from Reuters quoted the country’s communications minister, Meutya Hafid, who said the government views such AI misuse as a “serious violation of human rights, dignity and the security of citizens in the digital space.”
The block came despite xAI’s decision days earlier to limit Grok’s image-generation features to paying users, as part of efforts to tighten safeguards.
The following day, Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) imposed a temporary restriction on Grok’s accessibility, after finding that repeated misuse of the chatbot had produced obscene, indecent and non-consensual manipulated content.
MCMC officials said their formal notices to Grok and its parent platform X for stronger moderation and technical safeguards had not produced adequate results, prompting the restriction.
While numerous countries around the world have voiced their concerns and sought a response from Musk’s xAI on the issue, the two countries are the first to enforce a ban.
Having said that, Indonesia has been one of the more proactive countries who has banned social media services that exist as a medium to share pornographic content.
In 2014–2015, Indonesia blocked access to Reddit and Vimeo amid an online pornography crackdown, when authorities determined those platforms hosted nudity and other content inconsistent with local norms and laws.
While responding to a post on X about the United Kingdom’s government taking a similar approach to restricting Grok in the country, Musk said, “They want any excuse for censorship.”
However, Musk also previously stated that “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”
The post Indonesia and Malaysia Block Access to xAI’s Grok appeared first on Analytics India Magazine.