{"id":"f-e550251d2f-0095ad03-40db-532e-b806-02d01aa16b09","title":"Malaysia and Indonesia become first to block Musk's Grok over AI deepfakes","description":"Malaysia and Indonesia blocked Grok, Elon Musk's xAI chatbot, over misuse generating sexually explicit deepfakes. Authorities cite risks to women, children, and privacy amid global scrutiny.","timestamp":1768202456,"category":"international","headline":"Malaysia and Indonesia become first to block Musk's Grok over AI deepfakes","modifiedHeadline":"Malaysia, Indonesia Block Musk's Grok AI","subCategories":["scid_afe28127"],"region":"IN","bundleMetaData":{"bundleId":"c35cfc57-1bba-4539-a24c-695ea99ac023","bundleTitle":"Mastering AI","cardData":null},"iabCategoryId":"597","fcSummary":"Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Grok, Elon Musk's AI chatbot, due to its misuse in generating explicit and non-consensual images, especially involving women and minors. Regulators cited inadequate safeguards and rights violations as the reason of blocking.","summary":"Malaysia, Indonesia ban Musk's Grok AI over explicit deepfakes, citing threats to women, children, and privacy amid global concern.","ctaUrl":"https://trends.glance.com/newz/World_News/IN/en/cnbc-tv18/f-e550251d2f-0095ad03-40db-532e-b806-02d01aa16b09","sourceUrl":"https://www.cnbctv18.com/world/malaysia-indonesia-become-first-to-block-musk-grok-over-ai-deepfakes-ws-el-19818961.htm","bannerImage":"https://g-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/fc/image/X_p_1WzIFmI0.webp","content":"Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and non-consensual images.\n\n
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\n The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk's social media platform X, has been criticised for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children.\n
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\n Regulators in the two Southeast Asian nations said existing controls were not preventing the creation and spread of fake pornographic content, particularly involving women and minors. Indonesia's government temporarily blocked access to Grok on January 10, followed by Malaysia on January 11.\n\n
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\n \"The government sees non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the safety of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesia's Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement on January 10.\n
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\n The ministry said the measure was intended to protect women, children, and the broader community from fake pornographic content generated using AI.\n
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\n Initial findings showed that Grok lacks effective safeguards to stop users from creating and distributing pornographic content based on real photos of Indonesian residents, Alexander Sabar, director general of digital space supervision, said in a separate statement. He said such practices risk violating privacy and image rights when photos are manipulated or shared without consent, causing psychological, social and reputational harm.\n\n
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\n In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission ordered a temporary restriction on Grok on Sunday after what it said was “repeated misuse” of the tool to generate obscene, sexually explicit, and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.\n
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\n The regulator said notices issued this month to X Corp and xAI demanding stronger safeguards drew responses that relied mainly on user reporting mechanisms.\n
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\n \"The restriction is imposed as a preventive and proportionate measure while legal and regulatory processes are ongoing,\" it said, adding that access will remain blocked until effective safeguards are put in place.\n\n
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\n Launched in 2023, Grok is free to use on X. Users can ask it questions on the social media platform and tag posts they've directly created or replies to posts from other users. Last summer, the company added an image generator feature, Grok Imagine, that included a so-called \"spicy mode\" that can generate adult content.\n
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\n The Southeast Asian restrictions come amid mounting scrutiny of Grok elsewhere, including in the European Union, Britain, India and France. Grok last week limited image generation and editing to paying users following a global backlash over sexualised deepfakes of people, but critics say it did not fully address the problem.\n","readDurationInMinutes":"5","author":{"name":"CNBC TV18","logo":"https://glance-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/bubble/jpeg/ecc3d19b-fc52-4a39-881c-5b0936ae723b.jpeg"},"ism":false,"analyticsResponses":[{"measurementId":"383191425","type":"COMSCORE"}],"pointerSummary":["Malaysia & Indonesia block Grok AI over sexually explicit, non-consensual images.","Regulators cite Grok's lack of safeguards against fake pornographic content generation.","X Corp responses deemed inadequate; restrictions remain until safeguards are in place."],"tags":["Grok","ElonMusk","xAI","Deepfakes","AI","ArtificialIntelligence","Malaysia","Indonesia","Censorship","OnlineSafety","SexuallyExplicitContent","Pornography","ChildSafety","Privacy","DigitalRights","GrokImagine","MeutyaHafid","AlexanderSabar","XCorp","SocialMedia","Regulation","TechRegulation"],"consent":true,"redirectionEnabled":false}

Malaysia and Indonesia become first to block Musk's Grok over AI deepfakes

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