Philippines becomes third Southeast Asian country to ban Grok
The Philippines announced Thursday it would block Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot "by tonight," marking the third Southeast Asian nation in under a week to restrict access amid global outcry over its use in generating sexual deepfakes of women and children. The decision came hours after X, the social platform hosting Grok, pledged new curbs to prevent the bot from undressing real people's images yet Philippine officials insisted X's promises would not sway their plans.
Indonesia led with a full Grok ban on January 10, followed by Malaysia on January 11. Indonesia's Communications Minister Meutya Hafid cited protection for "women, children, and society at large" from AI-fabricated pornography. Malaysia's communications regulator deemed X and xAI responses "insufficient" to prevent harm or ensure compliance, with Minister Fahmi Fadzil demanding proof Grok can no longer produce sexual images before lifting the block. Philippines telecoms secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda stressed the need to "clean up the internet now" against toxic AI content, while the national cybercrime center's interim director Renato Paraiso told AFP the government won't base decisions on mere announcements.
Controversy swirls around Grok's late-December image editing feature, which users exploited to partially or fully undress women and children in photos. Paris-based NGO AI Forensics analyzed over 20,000 Grok-generated images, finding more than half depicted scantily clad people mostly women, with 2% appearing underage. National University of Singapore researcher Chew Han Ei noted Grok's safeguards are "easily bypassed," exposing design flaws when systems amplify harmful synthetics so readily.
X responded Wednesday with "technological measures" blocking Grok from altering real images into revealing attire, applying globally even to paid users, plus geo-blocks in restrictive jurisdictions. California's Attorney General Rob Bonta launched a probe into xAI for "large-scale production of non-consensual intimate deepfake images." Britain's Ofcom welcomed the fixes as a "welcome development" but continues its formal inquiry. Musk denied awareness of child nudity outputs "Literally zero" while xAI dismissed Southeast Asian bans with "Legacy Media Lies."
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