The Grok AI chatbot has been temporarily blocked in Malaysia as of 11 January. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), made the call after what it describes as “repeated misuse” of the platform.
According to the MCMC, Grok had been used to generate a range of harmful content, including obscene, sexually explicit, and non-consensual manipulated images – some involving women and minors. This came despite what the regulator says were prior attempts to engage with X Corp and xAI LLC, the companies behind the chatbot.
The commission issued formal notices on 3 and 8 January, pressing for stronger technical and moderation safeguards to prevent AI-generated material that could break Malaysian law, notably Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act. However, the responses from X Corp, submitted on 7 and 9 January, reportedly fell short. The MCMC stated that the company leaned too heavily on user reporting tools and didn’t properly address the underlying risks tied to how the AI itself works.
Deeming this approach “insufficient to prevent harm or ensure legal compliance,” the regulator decided to impose what it calls a “preventive and proportionate” restriction while legal and regulatory discussions continue. Access to Grok will stay blocked until what the MCMC sees as effective safeguards are in place – especially concerning content that targets women and children.
That said, there’s a noticeable gap in the block’s effectiveness. Grok remains available to paying X (formerly Twitter) subscribers, and users in Malaysia can still get to it with a simple DNS change. The measure is a bit half-baked, raising questions about how well such restrictions work in practice when workarounds are so straightforward.