MCMC first announced a temporary restriction on Grok on Jan 11 due to repeated misuse of the AI chatbot to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors. — Reuters
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has lifted the temporary restriction on Grok, allowing users in Malaysia to resume access to the application from today (Jan 23).
MCMC said the move comes after receiving confirmation that the social media platform X has implemented additional preventive and security measures for Grok, an AI chatbot application.
On Jan 21, the commission held a meeting with the Communications Ministry and representatives from X to seek clarification and assurances regarding the platform’s compliance with Malaysian laws.
“Accordingly, after taking into consideration the explanations and initial assurances provided, MCMC has lifted the temporary access restriction imposed on the Grok application, subject to ongoing monitoring by the authorities,” it added.
MCMC first announced a temporary restriction on Grok on Jan 11 due to repeated misuse of the AI chatbot to generate obscene, sexually explicit and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors.
Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said in Dewan Rakyat yesterday (Jan 22) that MCMC received 17 complaints on Grok, adding that X representatives have assured that the application cannot be misused to create pornographic or sexual content.
Following backlash from other countries including Indonesia and the Philippines, X announced a series of safety updates including "technological measures" to prevent Grok from editing images of real people in revealing clothing, adding that the restriction applies to all users including paid subscribers.
"Additionally, we will geoblock in jurisdictions where such content is illegal, the ability of all users in those locations to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire in Grok on X, and xAI is implementing similar geoblocking measures for the Grok app," X said in the Jan 15 post.
