Malaysia and Indonesia become first to block Grok over sexualised deepfake concerns

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block access to Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, citing concerns over its misuse to generate sexually explicit and non-consensual manipulated images, regulators said this week.

The moves underscore growing alarm among governments over the abuse of generative artificial intelligence tools, after Grok, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, drew criticism for producing manipulated sexual content involving real people.

Both governments said the restrictions were imposed as temporary but necessary measures to protect users, particularly women and children, from harm while regulatory and legal processes continue.

Concerns over sexualised deepfakes

Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, Meutya Hafid, said on 10 January 2026 that non-consensual sexual deepfakes represent a serious violation of human rights, dignity and safety in the digital space.

“The government sees non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the safety of citizens in the digital space,” Hafid said in a statement.

She added that the restriction on Grok was intended to protect women, children and the wider public from fake pornographic content generated using artificial intelligence, according to a ministry release.

Indonesia temporarily blocked access to Grok on Saturday, 10 January 2026, becoming the first country to impose a nationwide restriction on the chatbot.

Indonesia cites lack of safeguards

In a separate statement, Alexander Sabar, director-general of digital space supervision, said initial findings showed Grok lacked effective safeguards to prevent users from creating and distributing pornographic material using real photographs of Indonesian residents.

Such practices risk violating privacy and image rights and could lead to psychological, social and reputational harm, he said, according to the same statement.

Officials said the decision followed monitoring of online activity and complaints from the public, as well as an assessment of whether Grok complied with existing digital safety and anti-pornography regulations.

Indonesia enforces strict laws against pornography and online content deemed harmful to public morality, particularly material involving minors or non-consensual imagery.

Malaysia imposes temporary block

Neighbouring Malaysia followed on Sunday, with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) ordering a temporary restriction on Grok.

The regulator said the move came after repeated misuse of the chatbot to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.

According to an MCMC statement, notices had been issued earlier this month to X Corp. and xAI demanding stronger safeguards against such misuse.

However, the commission said responses from the companies relied mainly on user-reporting mechanisms rather than proactive technical controls.

“The restriction is imposed as a preventive and proportionate measure while legal and regulatory processes are ongoing,” the MCMC said, adding that access would remain blocked until effective protections were put in place.

Like Indonesia, Malaysia has strict anti-pornography laws, shaped in part by social and religious norms.

Global scrutiny intensifies

Launched in 2023, Grok allows users to ask questions and generate text through X. An image-generation feature added last year enabled the creation and editing of images, including sexually explicit material.

The Southeast Asian bans come amid mounting scrutiny elsewhere. On Monday, Britain’s online safety regulator Ofcom said it had opened a formal investigation into X.

Ofcom said it was examining whether Grok-generated images depicting people being undressed or children being sexualised could amount to illegal pornography or child sexual abuse material, according to a regulatory notice.

“The content created and shared using Grok in recent days has been deeply disturbing,” Britain’s Technology Secretary, Liz Kendall, said, according to a government statement.

Officials in the European Union, India and France have also raised concerns about whether Grok’s safeguards meet local legal and regulatory standards.

Response from xAI and Musk

When asked to comment on the bans, Grok’s parent company xAI gave media a brief response, stating: “Legacy Media Lies.”

The same message was also received by The Associated Press when it sought comment on the global backlash.

Previously, Musk and xAI said they were addressing the issue by permanently suspending offending accounts and working with local governments and law enforcement.

However, critics and regulators said sexually explicit content generated by Grok continued to circulate widely despite these assurances.

Grok has been viewed by many users and researchers as an outlier compared with other mainstream AI models, due to its comparatively permissive approach to sexualised content.

Pressure mounts on platforms

The surge in the so-called “digital undressing” trend began late last year, when users discovered they could tag Grok on X to manipulate images of real people using simple prompts.

These included instructions to place individuals in revealing clothing or to remove clothing entirely, often without the subject’s knowledge or consent.

Hundreds of thousands of women worldwide have reported distress after being targeted by such images, according to civil society groups monitoring online abuse.

X said it would introduce new safeguards, including limiting image generation and editing features to paying users and geoblocking certain functions in regions where such content is illegal.

Regulators in Southeast Asia said the measures did not go far enough and that stronger, built-in safeguards were required before access could be restored.