JAKARTA: Indonesia suspended Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok on Saturday over concerns about AI-generated pornographic content, the country’s communication and digital affairs minister said.

Grok has faced a global backlash after it emerged that its image creation feature allowed users to sexualise pictures of women and children using simple text prompts.

Indonesia is the first country to deny all access to the tool, which has been restricted to paying subscribers elsewhere following the backlash.

“In order to protect women, children, and the public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using the artificial intelligence technology, the government... has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application,” Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said.

“The government views non-consensual deepfake practices as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.”

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2026