Indonesia and Malaysia block Musk-backed Grok over explicit deepfake content

New Delhi: Indonesia and Malaysia have moved to restrict access to xAI’s chatbot Grok, after the Elon Musk-backed tool became embroiled in concerns around the creation and spread of sexually explicit, non-consensual images on X.

Indonesia’s communications ministry announced a temporary block on access to Grok, flagging the risks of AI-generated pornographic material and deepfake abuse, particularly affecting women and children.

Malaysia’s communications regulator followed with its own restriction, saying it had acted after repeated instances of misuse and warning that platforms must meet local online safety obligations.

The actions are among the first government-led blocks linked directly to Grok’s image-generation misuse, as regulators sharpen their focus on generative AI guardrails, platform-level enforcement, and the spread of synthetic sexual abuse content.

The restrictions come as X faces wider scrutiny over a “digital undressing” trend, where users have used prompts and image manipulation to generate sexualised imagery. 

UK regulator Ofcom has also said it made urgent contact with X and xAI over concerns about undressed images and sexualised images of children, and that it would assess potential compliance issues.

Neither X nor xAI has offered a detailed public response in the immediate aftermath of the Southeast Asia actions, even as pressure rises on platforms to demonstrate faster takedowns, stronger preventative measures, and clearer accountability around AI-driven content generation.