Malaysia has temporarily restricted access to Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot, effective January 11, 2026, in response to its repeated misuse for generating obscene, sexually explicit, and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors. This move comes after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) issued notices to X (formerly Twitter) and xAI, the developer of Grok, demanding stronger technical and moderation safeguards. However, the responses from X and xAI, which primarily relied on user-initiated reporting mechanisms, were deemed insufficient to prevent harm and ensure legal compliance. The MCMC stated that access to Grok will remain blocked until effective safeguards are implemented. Indonesia preceded Malaysia, becoming the first country to temporarily deny access to Grok on January 10, 2026, citing similar concerns over the chatbot's ability to create and spread fake pornographic content. The Indonesian Communication and Digital Affairs Minister emphasized that non-consensual sexual deepfakes are a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and digital safety. The controversy around Grok AI's image generation feature, which allowed users to alter existing photos into sexualized content, has ignited a widening global backlash. Regulators and governments in the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, and India are also scrutinizing Grok and demanding accountability from X. While Grok's developer xAI previously restricted image generation and editing to paid subscribers in an attempt to address the issue, critics argue that this measure does not fully resolve the underlying problem of enabling image-based abuse.