Malaysia has lifted its ban on Elon Musk's Grok chatbot after taking X at its word regarding the implementation of necessary safeguards to prevent misuse. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had initially imposed a temporary halt on access to Grok in early January, citing concerns over its use in generating deepfake sexualized images of people.
The restrictions were put in place amid multiple reports of Grok being used to create such content, including images of women and children. The MCMC stated that the ban would remain until X Corp and parent company xAI could prove they had taken adequate measures to prevent such misuse.
However, it appears that Malaysian authorities are now satisfied with the safety measures implemented by Musk's company. A statement from the MCMC confirms that it is monitoring Grok's activities closely and will take firm action if any further user safety breaches or violations of Malaysian laws occur.
It's worth noting that Malaysia is not the only country to have taken action against Grok. Indonesia also imposed a ban on the chatbot, while the UK regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into X under its Online Safety Act following reports of non-consensual sexual deepfakes.
X has since made changes to its image-editing policies and announced that Grok will no longer allow the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing. However, a recent report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimated that Grok generated around 3 million sexualized images over an 11-day period, with approximately 23,000 of these images being of children.
The lifting of Malaysia's ban on Grok has left some questions unanswered regarding the effectiveness of X's safety measures and its commitment to preventing the misuse of its platform.
The restrictions were put in place amid multiple reports of Grok being used to create such content, including images of women and children. The MCMC stated that the ban would remain until X Corp and parent company xAI could prove they had taken adequate measures to prevent such misuse.
However, it appears that Malaysian authorities are now satisfied with the safety measures implemented by Musk's company. A statement from the MCMC confirms that it is monitoring Grok's activities closely and will take firm action if any further user safety breaches or violations of Malaysian laws occur.
It's worth noting that Malaysia is not the only country to have taken action against Grok. Indonesia also imposed a ban on the chatbot, while the UK regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into X under its Online Safety Act following reports of non-consensual sexual deepfakes.
X has since made changes to its image-editing policies and announced that Grok will no longer allow the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing. However, a recent report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate estimated that Grok generated around 3 million sexualized images over an 11-day period, with approximately 23,000 of these images being of children.
The lifting of Malaysia's ban on Grok has left some questions unanswered regarding the effectiveness of X's safety measures and its commitment to preventing the misuse of its platform.
... I mean, 3 million sexualized images generated in just 11 days? That's some serious concerns 
... And what about those 23,000 images of children? It feels like X Corp is still doing more harm than good 
. I'm all for tech companies taking responsibility and implementing safety measures, but it seems like they're not doing enough yet 
... Can we really trust that Grok won't be used to create more problematic content in the future? 
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3 million sexualized images in 11 days? That's like a whole lotta no good 
. X Corp needs to step up their game, or else they'll be getting a big ol' "no thanks" from users worldwide 
I mean, I guess it's good that X Corp is taking steps to prevent deepfakes, but 3 million images in 11 days is a lot. How does Grok even keep track of all those reports? 
And what about the ones they can't catch? Are those people just gonna get exploited over and over again? 
I don't know, man... it's like we're just racing to see who can find the next loophole in these tech companies' safety measures. 
... i mean, x corp says they've taken necessary safeguards but have we seen any real proof? 
... indonesia and uk still got bans in place, why should malaysia be the only one to give them a free pass? 
... it just feels like big tech companies are only looking out for themselves and not really caring about user safety 
... what's the point of having regulations if they're just gonna be ignored? 
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, but it's still a bit worrying that 3 million sexualized images were generated in just 11 days 
. It seems like X Corp still has some work to do to prove their safety measures are effective 
. I mean, 23,000 child images being created is unacceptable 
. The fact that Indonesia also banned Grok and the UK is investigating X under its Online Safety Act 
. Can't we all just make sure AI platforms like Grok are used responsibly? 
#DigitalResponsibility #AIForGood #GrokBan
that shows what I mean:
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. How many of those were actually reported and taken down? It's not like X Corp can just delete them all 
. What about the long-term implications of having a chatbot that can generate super realistic images? It's not exactly rocket science 
. Maybe someone will take Grok down for good 
But seriously, I think it's awesome that Elon Musk and his team were able to make some changes to ensure the safety of their users. It's all about being transparent and taking responsibility for what your platform can do 
. And I have to say, it's not like X Corp was trying to hide anything... they basically admitted to some issues with their safety measures 
. We'll get there eventually, folks! 
I'm still not convinced about the Malaysian gov't's stance on this whole Grok thing... like, they only lifted the ban after Elon Musk promised to put safeguards in place? It feels a bit too convenient for me. 
. Malaysia might be happy with the ban being lifted, but what about the rest of us who are worried about these kinds of things online?
, and then they lifted the ban after Elon Musk promised to make changes to stop that from happening 
. But here's the thing - 3 million images in just 11 days? That's a lot of work for one company to clean up 
. I don't know if they're doing enough or not, but it seems like this is still a bit of an issue 
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X needs to step up their game and show us they're committed to making this right 