Due to worries that Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot is producing non-consensual $£×>ual deepfake imagery, such as r!sky and p_√n0g√aphic images of women and children, Indonesia has become the first nation to block the chatbot.
The decision was made, according to authorities, to shield citizens from what they called a rapidly growing threat posed by the internet.
Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s minister of communication and digital affairs, said in a statement that the government was taking action against “the practice of non-consensual s@.xual deepfakes,” which she described as “a serious v!.lation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.”
Hafid added: “In order to protect women, children, and the public from the risks of fake p_√n0g√aphic content generated using the artificial intelligence technology, the government has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application.”
The move comes amid mounting global concern over Grok’s integration into Musk’s social media platform X, where users have been able to generate AI-altered or AI-fabricated images by tagging the bot in posts.
The platform has been flooded in recent weeks with manipulated pictures, many featuring partially unclothed women and minors. The Internet Watch Foundation has warned that criminal actors are already exploiting the feature to produce child s.@xual ab.use material.
Following public backlash, X restricted AI image generation to paying subscribers, requiring users to submit identifying information. Critics, however, argue the safeguard does not go far enough.
Indonesia, which has strict online obscenity laws, summoned X representatives after ordering the temporary block. Meanwhile, the UK government is also weighing action, with media regulator Ofcom reviewing whether X is in breach of the Online Safety Act.
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said she would support Ofcom if it chose to block the platform entirely, stating: “S@.x.ually manipulating images of women and children is despicable and abhorrent.”
Under the UK law, Ofcom can seek a court order to prevent firms from hosting or monetising X in Britain if it refuses to comply.
X owner Elon Musk has dismissed the criticism, arguing that his opponents “want any excuse for censorship.” In one controversial post, he even shared an AI-generated image of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a bikini, commenting that “they just want to suppress free speech.”
Reports from late December indicate that Grok has been producing degrading edits of women “dozens of times per minute.” Metro documented examples of users directing the bot to generate explicit scenarios, including an image request for a woman “holding a baby and pulling down her clothes to breastfeed.”
Another user asked the system to digitally unclothe a group of women by instructing Grok that “they are men.”
Although full image generation is now gated behind paid access, free users can still manipulate photos via X’s “edit image” tools and through Grok’s standalone website.
Responding to the controversy, X’s Safety account wrote: “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child S3xu@l Ab.use Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.”
It added: “Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content.”