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Philippines to ban Grok over deepfakes

By The Standard January 15, 2026

Source: The Standard

Philippines to ban Grok over deepfakes

The Philippines said Thursday it plans to block Elon Musk's Grok "by tonight", joining Southeast Asian neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia in barring access to the chatbot that has drawn fire over AI-generated sexualised deepfakes.The news came hours after social media platform X said itwas taking measuresto prevent its chatbot from undressing images of real people -- including children -- amid a growing global backlash and the launch of an investigation in the US state of California."We need to clean the internet now, because much toxic content is appearing, especially with the advent of AI," telecommunications secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda told a press briefing announcing the decision.Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the country's cybercrime centre, told AFP the block would take effect within the day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp"By tonight or within today, we are expecting (Grok) to be blocked in the entire Philippines," Paraiso said."We are expecting the telcos to immediately comply with the (National Telecommunications Commission) order, so of course we will monitor it."He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

The news came hours after social media platform X said itwas taking measuresto prevent its chatbot from undressing images of real people -- including children -- amid a growing global backlash and the launch of an investigation in the US state of California."We need to clean the internet now, because much toxic content is appearing, especially with the advent of AI," telecommunications secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda told a press briefing announcing the decision.Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the country's cybercrime centre, told AFP the block would take effect within the day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp"By tonight or within today, we are expecting (Grok) to be blocked in the entire Philippines," Paraiso said."We are expecting the telcos to immediately comply with the (National Telecommunications Commission) order, so of course we will monitor it."He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

"We need to clean the internet now, because much toxic content is appearing, especially with the advent of AI," telecommunications secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda told a press briefing announcing the decision.Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the country's cybercrime centre, told AFP the block would take effect within the day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp"By tonight or within today, we are expecting (Grok) to be blocked in the entire Philippines," Paraiso said."We are expecting the telcos to immediately comply with the (National Telecommunications Commission) order, so of course we will monitor it."He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

Renato Paraiso, acting executive director of the country's cybercrime centre, told AFP the block would take effect within the day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp"By tonight or within today, we are expecting (Grok) to be blocked in the entire Philippines," Paraiso said."We are expecting the telcos to immediately comply with the (National Telecommunications Commission) order, so of course we will monitor it."He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

"By tonight or within today, we are expecting (Grok) to be blocked in the entire Philippines," Paraiso said."We are expecting the telcos to immediately comply with the (National Telecommunications Commission) order, so of course we will monitor it."He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

"We are expecting the telcos to immediately comply with the (National Telecommunications Commission) order, so of course we will monitor it."He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

He added that X's pledge to limit access would have no effect on the government's plans."We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

"We cannot make decisions based on announcements," Paraiso said, adding they would watch to see if the platform carries through with its promises.Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

Indonesia on Saturday became the first country to block access to Grok entirely, with Malaysia following the next day.Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp

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