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Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries in the world to officially ban Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, citing its ability to generate sexually explicit deepfakes. Authorities in both nations blocked access to the tool on the X platform after discovering it was being used to manipulate images of real people into revealing or pornographic outfits. Officials expressed specific concern that the AI could be exploited to produce non-consensual imagery involving women and children.
There is also growing pressure to block Grok in the UK, with its technology secretary saying she would back the move, leading Musk to accuse the government of wanting to suppress free speech.
Malaysia and Indonesia's communications ministries announced their move against Grok in separate statements over the weekend.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said on Sunday that it issued notices to X earlier in the year to seek tighter measures after it found "repeated misuse" of Grok to generate harmful content. But in its response, X failed to address the inherent risks of its platform's design and focused mainly on the reporting process for users, the regulator said.
It added that Grok will be blocked until effective safeguards are implemented and urged the public to report harmful online content.
“Using Grok to produce sexually explicit content is a violation of human rights, dignity and online safety,” Meutya Hafid, Indonesia's communications and digital affairs minister, said in a post on Instagram.
The ministry has also asked Musk's X to provide a clarification on the use of Grok.
Indonesian authorities have cracked down on other online sources of pornographic material in recent years, with platforms such as OnlyFans and Pornhub already banned in the country.
Indonesian X users who found their manipulated pictures on the platform said they felt angry that this was allowed to happen.
The use of Grok to generate sexualised images has been condemned by leaders worldwide, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called it "disgraceful" and "disgusting".
