Indonesia, Malaysia Block Grok Over Deepfakes
- Sarah Ruivivar
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
In a bold move against the misuse of AI, Indonesia and Malaysia have temporarily blocked access to xAI's chatbot, Grok.
This decisive action comes in response to a deluge of sexualized, AI-generated images, often depicting real women and minors, and sometimes involving violence, shared by Grok users on the social network X. Both X and xAI fall under the same corporate umbrella, adding a layer of complexity to the situation.
Indonesia’s communications and digital minister, Meutya Hafid, emphasized the severity of the issue, stating that non-consensual sexual deepfakes are a grave violation of human rights and digital security. The ministry has also summoned X officials for a discussion, signalling a serious crackdown.
Malaysia has echoed this sentiment, announcing a similar ban. Meanwhile, India’s IT ministry has ordered X to curb Grok’s obscene content generation, and the European Commission is gearing up for a potential investigation by requiring the retention of all Grok-related documents.
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In the UK, Ofcom is swiftly assessing potential compliance issues, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer backing any necessary actions. Across the pond, while the Trump administration remains silent, Democratic senators are urging tech giants to remove X from their app stores.
xAI responded with an apology on Grok’s account, admitting to ethical violations and restricting the AI image-generation feature to paying subscribers. However, this restriction doesn’t seem to impact the Grok app directly, which still allows image generation.
Elon Musk, xAI’s CEO, dismissed the UK’s inaction against other AI tools as censorship excuses, adding another twist to this unfolding drama. As the world watches, the debate over AI ethics and regulation heats up, with Grok at the centre of the storm.
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