On Saturday, January 10, 2026, Indonesia temporarily restricted access to the Grok chatbot, developed by Elon Musk's xAI company. The country became the first in the world to completely block this artificial intelligence tool due to the risks of creating and disseminating pornographic content. This was reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
The decision to block was made by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Technologies of Indonesia. The country's authorities consider the creation of sexualized deepfakes without the consent of individuals as a serious threat to the safety of citizens.
Grok disabled image generation for most X social network users09.01.26, 21:14
The government considers the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the safety of citizens in the digital space.
She also added that such actions are a form of "digital violence" from which women and children, first and foremost, must be protected.
xAI's reaction and international context
Prior to the blocking, xAI announced restrictions on image generation functions - they are now only available to paid subscribers. This was done to correct security flaws that allowed the creation of explicit content, including images of minors. In response to journalists' inquiries about the situation, xAI replied with an automatic message: "Legacy Media Lies."
Elon Musk announced the open-sourcing of the X algorithm within a week10.01.26, 23:08
In addition to Indonesia, Grok's activities have raised concerns among regulators in the UK, France, Malaysia, and Australia. In particular, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the generated content "disgusting" and demanded that the management of the X platform immediately strengthen moderation. The Indonesian Ministry of Communication has already summoned official representatives of X to provide explanations and discuss technical steps to prevent abuse in the future.