Jan. 12 (UPI) — Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Grok, the first countries to bar the use of X’s artificial intelligence service amid growing concerns over its generation of non-consensual sexually explicit content.
The announcements over the weekend come as Grok is facing deepening government scrutiny over its production of deepfakes, realistic images and video created via AI services.
While deepfakes can take the form of various types of media, governments and critics have mostly directed their concern at its use to create sexually explicit content of real-life people, an abuse that largely victimizes women and minors.
Malaysia said its temporary ban, announced Sunday, follows repeated warnings issued to X to implement safeguards to prevent AI-generated content that violates the Asian nation’s laws.
Responses received from the U.S.-based, Elon Musk-owned micro-blogging platform “failed to address the inherent risks posed by the design and operation of the AI tool” and largely relied on users reporting when abuses occurred.
“MCMC considers this insufficient to prevent harm or ensure legal compliance,” the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said in a statement.
Meutya Hafid, Indonesia’s minister of communications and digital affairs, similarly said on Friday when her country banned Grok that she had asked X to provide clarification on the negative impacts of its AI service, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
“This step was taken to protect women, children and the public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated by artificial intelligence, including the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes,” she said in a statement on Instagram.
“A safe digital space requires all of us to play a role.”
Scrutiny over Grok’s generation of sexually explicit material has been growing over the last few weeks.
Early this month, French ministers referred “unlawful content” generated by Grok to the public prosecutor’s office for investigation.
On Friday, Britain’s technology secretary, Liz Kendall, called on London’s Office of Communications to use “the full legal powers Parliament has given them” to go after Grok over its production and dissemination of sexually manipulated images of women and children.
“We are as determined to ensure women and girls are safe online as we are to ensure they are safe in the real world,” Kendall said in a statement. “No excuses.”
Early this year, amid growing concerns over Grok, X warned it will remove illegal content posted, permanently suspend accounts involved and work with local governments and law enforcement “as necessary.”
“Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content,” it said.
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