PH to block Grok over sexualized content — DICT

The Philippine government, through the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is now working to block AI chatbot Grok, developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, over issues of misuse and sexually explicit generated images.

At a Palace briefing on Thursday, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda announced that the “CICC (Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center) is working now together with the NTC (National Telecommunications Commissions) to do the blocking of that one [Grok].”

“This week mareresolve na ‘yan (it will be resolved already),” Aguda said.

The DICT chief said the content generated by Grok, particularly sexually explicit and nonconsensual images, falls under online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC).

“Hindi na nga tayo kailangang humihing ng permiso sa X (We don’t need to get permission from X); based on the content itself, it should be blocked,” Aguda said.

He explained that for blocking to happen, all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) would have to initiate the process, noting that the DICT does not have a “push button” mechanism to block websites or platforms in the country.

“Ang kagandahan lang sa Pilipinas, ang footprint ni Grok talagang maliit lang (The good thing here in the Philippines is that Grok’s footprint is small),” Aguda said.

The DICT chief said AI use should not be underestimated, adding that “if we abuse the use of AI, it can create a lot of unproductive discourse.” 

The Philippines could be the third country in the world to block Grok, following Malaysia and Indonesia over issues of misuse and sexually explicit generated content. Several countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, have launched investigations.

xAI said late on Wednesday it imposed restrictions on all users of its Grok AI chatbot that limit image editing.

Grok last week began allowing only paying subscribers to use its image generation and editing features.

Musk said earlier on Wednesday he was "not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok. Literally zero."

He had said before on X that anyone using Grok to make illegal content would suffer the same consequences as if they uploaded illegal content. —with a report from Reuters/VBL, GMA Integrated News