ASEAN flags. Credit: Prachatai – CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr. Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to ban Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot created by Elon Musk’s xAI, marking a notable move in government regulation of AI technology. The decision follows a massive global controversy surrounding the tool’s “nudification” features, which have flooded the internet with nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes of women and minors. Regulators in both Southeast Asian countries stated that existing safeguards on the platform were insufficient to prevent the creation and spread of obscene content. In Indonesia, Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid announced a temporary block on Saturday, labeling the generation of sexual deepfakes a “serious violation of human rights and dignity.” Malaysia followed Indonesia’s decision to ban Grok in the country The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission followed suit on Sunday, citing the “repeated misuse” of Grok to generate grossly offensive and indecent images. Both nations are Muslim-majority countries with stringent anti-pornography laws and have indicated that access will remain restricted until xAI implements effective technical and moderation safeguards. The bans in Southeast Asia are likely to be a precursor for similar actions in the West, where regulatory pressure is reaching a breaking point. On Monday, the United Kingdom’s media regulator, Ofcom, launched a formal investigation into X to determine whether it has complied with its legal duties under the Online Safety Act to protect users from illegal content. Menteri Komunikasi dan Digital (Menkomdigi) Meutya Hafid menegaskan pemblokiran akses sementara terhadap Grok, aplikasi chatbot berbasis kecerdasan artifisial (AI), merupakan upaya pemerintah untuk melindungi perempuan dan anak. Baca di sini: https://t.co/4QYjoNI5bl