JAKARTA, Legal Literacy — The Ministry of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) has taken steps to temporarily block access to Grok, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot service owned by xAI that is integrated with the X platform. This policy was taken after the government assessed that the image generation and editing features on Grok have the potential to be misused to create fake pornography and non-consensual sexual deepfakes, which have a direct impact on the safety of citizens in the digital space.

Minister of Communication and Digital Meutya Hafid emphasized that the government views the practice of sexual deepfakes without consent as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space.

Grok Feature Highlighted, Indonesia Said to Be the First Country to Block

International reports state that Indonesia is the first country to officially restrict access to Grok due to the risk of AI content with sexual nuances circulating widely, including manipulated results made without the consent of the photo subject.

In recent days, Grok has become the focus of regulators in a number of jurisdictions because users can ask the chatbot to change people's photos in ways that place the subject in sexual poses or contexts—often without consent. xAI then announced restrictions: Grok's image generation/editing feature is claimed to be limited to paying customers, although a number of other usage channels are still considered to open loopholes for misuse.

Government Calls X, Refers to Risks of Privacy Violations and "Right to Self-Image"

In Indonesia, Komdigi stated that it had asked the X platform to be present to provide technical clarification.

Previously, Director General of Digital Space Supervision of Komdigi Alexander Sabar conveyed the initial search results which concluded that Grok did not yet have explicit and adequate settings to prevent the production and distribution of pornography based on real photos, thus risking violating privacy rights and the right to one's image when photos are manipulated or disseminated without valid consent.

At the same time, Elon Musk also stated on X that parties who use Grok to create illegal content will face consequences equivalent to uploading illegal content directly.

From an Indonesian regulatory perspective, Komdigi's actions can be read within the framework of Permenkominfo 5/2020 concerning Private Scope PSE. This regulation requires PSEs to be responsible for organizing electronic systems reliably, safely and responsibly, and ensuring that the system does not contain or facilitate the dissemination of prohibited content.

Permenkominfo 5/2020 also opens up space for “access termination” actions (take down or access blocking) if the PSE does not fulfill these obligations. In Article 9, it is emphasized that PSEs that do not carry out the obligation to ensure that their system is free from prohibited content can be subject to termination of access.

In addition, the technical provisions for termination of access give the Minister the authority to order a take down—including content containing pornography—and if this is not obeyed, the Minister can terminate access and/or order the ISP to terminate access to the electronic system concerned.

“Intermediary Liability” Issue: Safe Harbor, but with Conditions

The Grok case has sharpened the debate regarding intermediary liability, especially when the platform not only provides upload space, but also provides tools that can generate or modify content. Permenkominfo 5/2020 recognizes a mechanism for limiting liability for PSE user-generated content, but it is conditional: PSEs can be exempted from liability if they fulfill moderation obligations (Article 9 paragraph (3) and Article 10), provide user information for supervision/law enforcement purposes, and take down prohibited content.

In this context, the focus of supervision is not only on user behavior, but also on the design of security, moderation and platform response to potential misuse of AI features.

Global Dynamics: xAI Restrictions and Regulator Pressure

Developments in Indonesia are occurring amid global attention. Reuters reported that regulators in various regions have condemned, and even opened reviews, regarding the circulation of AI-generated sexual content produced via Grok. xAI said the restriction of image generation and editing features was carried out after widespread criticism, including issues of output involving victims without consent.

For Indonesia, the temporary access termination step is positioned as a rapid protection instrument while awaiting clarification and security improvements by the service provider.