Indonesia’s minister says deepfakes are a “grave violation of people’s human rights, dignity and safety” online.
Published January 10, 2026
Indonesia has become the first country in the world to block Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot due to the risk of AI-generated fake pornographic content.
The country’s communications and digital minister said on Saturday that the “act of non-consensual sexual deepfakes” is a “grave violation of the human rights, dignity and security of citizens in the digital space.”
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“To protect women, children and the general public from the risks of fake pornographic content generated using artificial intelligence technology, the government… has temporarily blocked access to the Grok application,” Mutia Hafid said in a statement.
The move comes a day after Grok limited image generation and editing features on Musk’s social media platform X to paid members in an effort to quell growing criticism of deepfakes.
Musk has been threatened with fines as several countries publicly push back against Grok, which allows users to alter online images and remove the clothes of their targets.
The billionaire said anyone who uses Grok to create illegal content will face the same consequences as if they had uploaded such material directly.
But European officials and technology activists condemned this week’s move to limit the AI tool’s functionality to X’s paying subscribers, saying it failed to address concerns.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office criticized the move as an “insult” to victims and “not a solution”.
A Downing Street spokesperson said on Friday: “This simply turns the AI functionality that enables the creation of illegal images into a premium service.” “This is an insult to misogyny and victims of sexual violence.”
Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Digital announced on Saturday that it had summoned X officials to discuss the issue.
The country of 285 million people has strict rules that prohibit the online sharing of content deemed obscene.
