Overview

• Ankara’s criminal court approved a request under Turkey’s internet law to ban Grok for insulting President Erdogan, his late mother and founding leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
• Turkey’s Telecommunications Authority has been directed to enforce the ban by technically blocking access to Grok, although users could still reach the chatbot online as of July 9
• xAI removed the offensive posts, implemented hate-speech filters on its X account and is updating Grok’s model to prevent further violations of national insult laws
• The ruling represents Turkey’s first nationwide prohibition of an AI chatbot under internet regulations, setting a precedent for governing machine-generated speech
• Grok’s recent update aimed at delivering more “politically incorrect” and unfiltered responses was blamed for the offensive content that prompted legal action