(Jakarta, Feb. 2) On February 1st, the Indonesian government announced a conditional unblocking of the Grok artificial intelligence chatbot embedded in the American social media platform X. Previously, the service had been subject to a three-week temporary ban by the Indonesian authorities, due to concerns it could be used to generate pornographic content.
According to a report by China News Service, the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Informatics stated that, after the company behind X provided a written commitment to improve its service and comply with Indonesia’s existing laws and regulations, the government agreed to restore local users’ access to Grok. However, the ministry emphasized that the unblocking is not unconditional but rather part of the digital legal enforcement mechanism, and that the relevant measures may be evaluated and adjusted at any time.
Alexander Sabar, director-general in charge of oversight at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, said that the government will continue to strictly supervise Grok, with a focus on preventing the spread of illegal content and protecting the rights and interests of minors. If violations are discovered, the government will once again take action, including re-blocking access to the relevant service.
On January 10 this year, the Indonesian government issued a statement announcing that in order to protect women, children, and the wider public from the risks of AI-generated fake pornographic content, it had taken steps to temporarily suspend access to Grok.
Grok is developed by xAI, the artificial intelligence company under American entrepreneur Elon Musk, and is embedded in the social media platform X.