Malaysia and Indonesia have blocked access to Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into Elon Musk's X platform, after it was found capable of generating sexually explicit deepfake images of women and children from ordinary photos. This marks the first such ban in the world, and pressure is mounting in the UK for a similar action — with Musk accusing governments of trying to suppress free speech. Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Commission stated that after discovering Grok was being misused to generate harmful content, it warned X to implement stronger safeguards, but X failed to respond with effective solutions. Indonesian Communications Minister Meutya Hafid also said that using Grok to create sexually explicit images violates human rights and online safety laws, and demanded clarification from X. Indonesia's authorities had already previously banned sites like OnlyFans and Pornhub. Indonesian X users whose images were manipulated by Grok are furious. One example: Kirana Ayuningtyas, a wheelchair user, had a photo transformed by Grok into a swimsuit image. She reported it and adjusted privacy settings, but said the actions had little real-world effect. World leaders have condemned the use of Grok to generate explicit images. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it "shameful," while Technology Secretary Liz Kendall expressed support for a plan to ban Elon Musk's X in the UK if it fails to comply with online safety laws. Ref: BBC