Malaysia, Indonesia Clamp Down on Grok AI Over Deepfake Abuse

Malaysia and Indonesia have taken the unprecedented step of blocking access to Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s company xAI, after it was found to be generating and circulating sexually explicit content on X, the social media platform owned by Musk.

The decision, announced over the weekend, follows growing outrage over the misuse of Grok to create AI-generated images of real people, many of which were non-consensual and highly explicit. Officials in both countries said the move was necessary to protect citizens, particularly women and children, from serious online harm.

Indonesia confirmed on Saturday that it had temporarily cut off access to Grok, with Malaysia issuing a similar order on Sunday. Authorities said the action came after explicit AI-generated images began spreading rapidly across X, where users can prompt Grok to create pictures of real individuals.

Indonesia’s communications and digital affairs minister Meutya Hafid strongly condemned the trend, describing it as a major threat to human dignity. As quoted by the New York Times, she said, "The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the security of citizens in the digital space."

The controversy intensified in recent weeks when Grok became associated with an “undressing” trend. In this viral practice, users uploaded photos of people and asked the chatbot to digitally remove their clothing. In several alarming cases, this resulted in sexualised deepfake images involving minors, prompting public outrage and urgent calls for regulatory action.

Unlike many rival AI platforms, Grok has been criticised for lacking robust safeguards to prevent the generation of explicit images of real people. This apparent gap in moderation tools has allowed misuse to flourish, turning the chatbot into a tool for harassment and exploitation rather than creativity.

Both Indonesia and Malaysia have a history of strict regulation when it comes to online content, particularly pornography. Indonesia has previously blocked platforms such as Pornhub and OnlyFans, and in 2018 it briefly shut down TikTok over concerns about sexually explicit material accessible to children. Malaysia, too, has stepped up its digital oversight, including proposals to bar children under 16 from using social media following cases of online bullying linked to teenage deaths.

The backlash against Grok is not limited to Southeast Asia. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has criticised the platform, while in the United States, senators Ron Wyden, Ed Markey and Ben Ray Lujan recently urged Apple and Google to remove Grok from their app stores, citing the risks posed by its image-generation tools.

Responding to the mounting pressure, X announced last week that Grok’s image-generation feature would now be limited to paid subscribers, a move aimed at curbing misuse. However, critics argue that this step does little to address the deeper issue of how easily the AI can be used to produce harmful content.

For Malaysia and Indonesia, the ban sends a clear message that emerging technologies will be held to account when they threaten public safety and personal dignity. As governments worldwide grapple with how to regulate artificial intelligence, the Grok controversy has become a stark example of how quickly innovation can outpace the rules meant to protect people online.