Overview
- On Friday, the Philippines said it was restricting access to Grok following complaints that non-consensual sexual images of women and minors were being generated and shared.
- Philippines Telecommunications Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda said the internet needs cleaning because toxic content is rising with the advent of AI.
- Malaysia’s communications regulator blocked Grok on January 11, citing repeated misuse to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive and non-consensual manipulated images involving women and minors.
- The Malaysian regulator said X Corp failed to address inherent risks and relied largely on user reporting, adding that access would remain blocked until effective safeguards are implemented.
- Grok’s recent expansion of text-prompt image-editing features drew criticism for enabling large-scale creation of non-consensual sexual images, while analysts describe the national curbs as emergency brakes that fall short of ASEAN-level coordination.