Indonesia becomes first country to block Elon Musk's Grok chatbot over generating explicit deepfakes
Indonesia became the first country to deny access to Elon Musk-owned xAI ’s Grok chatbot following concerns about its ability to generate explicit imagery. According to a report by the news agency Reuters, this move came after the country’s officials identified risks related to the generation of pornographic material. The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs stated that the tool lacked sufficient safeguards to prevent the creation of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, which the government categorises as a violation of human rights and digital security.
The move follows international scrutiny from regulators in Europe and Asia regarding Grok's output. Recent reports indicated that the chatbot had been used to produce sexualised images, including depictions involving minors. In response to these concerns, xAI, the developer of Grok, announced that it would restrict image-generation and editing features to paying subscribers while improving its safety filters.
What Indonesia said about temporarily blocking the Grok chatbot
In a statement to Reuters, Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Minister, said,
The Reuters report also noted that the ministry has even called upon X officials to discuss the matter. Indonesia has strict rules that ban people from sharing content deemed obscene online.
Earlier this week, Musk took to the microblogging site X to say that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as if they had uploaded it. Musk has also faced threats of fines, regulatory action, and reports of a possible ban on X in the UK.
The AI tool has been reportedly used to change images of women to remove their clothes and place them in sexual positions. However, this feature has now been turned off for everyone except paying subscribers.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also raised concerns about the use of the Grok chatbot to create exploitative sexual content. Last week, he joined other international leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in criticising X.
Albanese said to reporters.
While the number of reports received by Australia's eSafety Office remains small, it says there has been a recent increase related to the use of Grok to create sexual or exploitative images. The watchdog recently warned that it would use its powers, including issuing removal notices, where such material doesn’t meet the standards set out in the Online Safety Act .
the Australian regulator said.
The move follows international scrutiny from regulators in Europe and Asia regarding Grok's output. Recent reports indicated that the chatbot had been used to produce sexualised images, including depictions involving minors. In response to these concerns, xAI, the developer of Grok, announced that it would restrict image-generation and editing features to paying subscribers while improving its safety filters.
What Indonesia said about temporarily blocking the Grok chatbot
In a statement to Reuters, Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Minister, said,
The Reuters report also noted that the ministry has even called upon X officials to discuss the matter. Indonesia has strict rules that ban people from sharing content deemed obscene online.
Earlier this week, Musk took to the microblogging site X to say that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as if they had uploaded it. Musk has also faced threats of fines, regulatory action, and reports of a possible ban on X in the UK.
The AI tool has been reportedly used to change images of women to remove their clothes and place them in sexual positions. However, this feature has now been turned off for everyone except paying subscribers.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also raised concerns about the use of the Grok chatbot to create exploitative sexual content. Last week, he joined other international leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in criticising X.
While the number of reports received by Australia's eSafety Office remains small, it says there has been a recent increase related to the use of Grok to create sexual or exploitative images. The watchdog recently warned that it would use its powers, including issuing removal notices, where such material doesn’t meet the standards set out in the Online Safety Act .
the Australian regulator said.
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