Indonesia Temporarily Blocks Grok Over Risk Of AI-Generated Sexualized Images

JAKARTA, Jan 10 — Indonesia on Saturday temporarily blocked access to Grok, the AI chatbot developed by Elon Musk's xAI, citing the risk that the tool could produce pornographic or sexualized images. The move makes Indonesia the first country known to restrict access to Grok.

Regulators and rights groups across Europe and Asia have criticized the service and opened inquiries after researchers and users demonstrated that image-generation safeguards could be bypassed, producing sexualized outputs. xAI said on Thursday it had limited image-generation and editing features to paying subscribers while it worked to fix those safeguard lapses, which reportedly included depictions of scantily clad children.

Government Response

"The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space," Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said.

Elon Musk wrote on X that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face the same consequences as if they had uploaded illegal material themselves. When Reuters sought comment, xAI's reply appeared to be an automated message reading "Legacy Media Lies." X did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment.

Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, enforces strict laws against online content deemed obscene — a legal context that likely influenced the swift government response.

(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Stephen Coates)