THE ban on generative artificial intelligence chatbot Grok in the country stays, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Monday.
“In fact we are meeting with [Grok developer] x-AI on Tuesday (Jan. 20) to finalize the ban,“ the DICT office replied to reporters.
But a DICT official said in a separate statement on Monday that the ban can be lifted if corrective measures are applied.
“To clarify, Grok is now banned in the Philippines. However, note that once safeguards are in place, we can lift the ban,“ DICT Undersecretary Renato Paraiso told reporters.
On Jan. 16, the DICT ordered an immediate block on access to Grok, due to the following reasons:
– Sexually explicit deepfakes: Authorities found that the AI chatbot was being misused to generate nonconsensual, sexually explicit images and deepfakes;
– Protection of women and minors: The DICT cited Grok’s ability to create lewd images of women and children, posing a significant risk to these vulnerable groups;
– Violations of Philippine law: The DICT and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said Grok violated several laws, notably the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009 (Republic Act 9775) and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (RA 10175).
– Preemptive safety mandate: DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the ban was a proactive measure to prevent public harm, following similar actions in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey.
However, users in Malaysia and Indonesia have reported that while the standalone website is blocked, the integrated version of Grok within the X (formerly Twitter) platform may still be accessible through virtual private networks (VPNs) or domain name system (DNS) tweaks.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Communications on Jan. 12 launched a formal investigation on whether Grok complies with online safety laws.
India has issued a notice to X and xAI demanding the removal of obscene content and stricter safeguards under the IT Act.
France has expanded existing investigations into X to include Grok’s role in disseminating child pornography and misinformation.
In Brazil, regulators are examining potential legal actions regarding the misuse of Grok.
The European Union has expressed serious concern over illegal content, with officials saying such tools have “no place in Europe“ without proper safeguards.
Founded by Elon Musk, Grok launched in 2023 as a conversational assistant with a “rebellious“ and “witty“ personality, modeled after “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,“ a comedy science fiction series.
