Indonesia has temporarily blocked access to Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s startup xAI, citing risks of AI-generated pornographic and sexualised content.
This makes Indonesia the first country to deny access to the tool.
The move follows growing global concern, with governments and regulators in Europe and Asia condemning or investigating sexualised content produced by the app. Indonesian authorities highlighted particular concern over non-consensual sexual deepfakes, calling them a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and digital security, according to Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid.
Indonesia’s ministry has summoned X (formerly Twitter) officials for discussions on the issue. The country enforces strict online content laws, especially banning material deemed obscene, reflecting its conservative legal framework and status as the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.
In response, xAI said it has restricted image generation and editing to paying subscribers while fixing safeguard failures that allowed sexualised outputs, including depictions of scantily clad children. Elon Musk stated that users who create illegal content with Grok would face the same consequences as those who upload illegal material directly.
When contacted by Reuters, xAI replied with what appeared to be an automated message saying “Legacy Media Lies,” while X did not immediately comment.
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