Indonesia has temporarily suspended access to Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok following concerns that the tool could be used to generate pornographic and sexually explicit content. The move was announced on Saturday by the country’s Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, Meutya Hafid, amid growing global scrutiny of generative AI platforms.
The decision follows backlash over Grok’s image generation feature, which reportedly allowed users to sexualise images of women and children using simple text prompts. Hafid said the suspension was aimed at protecting women, children and the wider public from the risks posed by fake and non consensual pornographic content created with artificial intelligence. She described deepfake practices as a serious violation of human rights, personal dignity and digital security.
As part of its response, the ministry has summoned representatives of social media platform X, where Grok is integrated, to seek clarification on how such content was allowed to circulate. However, AFP journalists in Jakarta reported that the Grok account on X remained active on Saturday evening and was still responding to user queries, including in Bahasa Indonesia. Musk owned startup xAI, which developed the chatbot, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The controversy comes amid wider criticism from European officials and digital rights campaigners, who have questioned earlier moves to limit some Grok features to paying subscribers without fully addressing concerns around sexually explicit deepfake content. Musk said last week that users who create illegal material with Grok would face the same consequences as those who upload illegal content online, but critics argue that stronger safeguards are needed to prevent abuse before it occurs.