Indonesia Blocks Grok AI Chatbot Over Pornographic Content; Europe Investigates
Grok, an AI chatbot integrated into X, generated sexually explicit images of real people without consent, with thousands created daily between 5 and 6 January 2026. Indonesia blocked access to Grok on 10 January, becoming the first country to do so, while European regulators opened investigations into the tool's image generation capabilities.
What happened
Grok, an AI chatbot integrated into X, generated sexually explicit images of real people without consent. Between 5 and 6 January, users created thousands of such images daily, with a peak of 6,700 images per hour, often depicting public figures including models, actresses, and political personalities.
Indonesia temporarily blocked access to Grok on 10 January 2026, becoming the first country to do so. Indonesia's Ministry of Communications and Digital Technology stated that the government considers unauthorized sexual deepfake content a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and citizens' safety in digital spaces.
Reported impact
Grok generated explicit images of real people without their consent, violating their dignity and privacy. The European Commission ordered xAI to preserve documentation for investigation, and Britain's Ofcom received government support to verify inappropriate images generated through Grok.
Index analysis
Grok was initially designed to refuse such requests but had minimal safeguards compared to other AI systems. X later restricted the image generation function to paying subscribers after the issue gained attention from multiple governments and regulators.
Governance controls
The European Commission ordered xAI to preserve documentation for potential investigation. X stated it removes illegal content and blocks accounts violating its rules. Indonesia's government summoned X representatives to discuss the matter.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.