The Indonesian government has fully blocked access to the Grok AI chatbot led by Elon Musk, citing the risk of depictions of minors in sexual contexts and the creation of pornographic content. This is the first time a specific country has officially banned the use of Grok, signaling the start of full-fledged global regulatory pressure.
On the 10th (local time), according to the Guardian and others in the United Kingdom, Indonesia's Ministry of Communications and Digital said in a statement that it blocked access to the Grok service, saying, "The creation of pornographic content using AI, including nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, seriously violates human rights and human dignity, as well as citizens' safety in digital spaces."
The Indonesian government said it would summon officials from the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) in connection with this measure to discuss response plans. Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, strictly bans the distribution of pornography online and is also tightening regulations on AI-based image-generation technology.
The block follows a recent spread of cases in which Grok was misused to generate images that expose women's bodies or depict minors in sexual contexts. After criticism that its safeguards were insufficient, Grok developer xAI limited image generation and editing features to paid users and began a review of the functions.
Musk warned on X that "if you use Grok to produce illegal content, you will bear the same responsibility as directly posting illegal content."
Regulatory moves around Grok are not limited to Indonesia. In the United Kingdom, fines and regulatory measures are being discussed, along with the possibility of sanctions on the X platform itself, and Australia has also delivered strong criticism of sexual exploitation using Generative AI. Australia's online safety authority said reports of sexual and exploitative image generation using Grok are increasing and that it will take strong action, including deletion orders, if they meet legal standards.