Indonesia has become the first country in the world to block access to Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, citing the severe risks posed by the creation of non-consensual pornographic deepfakes.
The government described the platform’s capability to generate such images as a “serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.”
Okay News reports that Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid announced the temporary block on Saturday, citing the need to protect women, children, and the general public from digital exploitation.
“In order to protect… from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using artificial intelligence technology, the government has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application,”
Hafid stated. The ministry has also summoned officials from X (formerly Twitter) to address the violations under Indonesia’s strict anti-obscenity laws.
The ban intensifies the global backlash against Grok, which recently limited its image generation features to paying subscribers—a move widely criticized by international officials. The office of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned X’s decision as “insulting” to victims, arguing that it simply turns the creation of unlawful images into a premium service rather than solving the underlying safety issue.
