Philippines signals possible lifting of Grok ban after xAI pledges safeguards

The Philippine government has signalled it may lift its ban on artificial intelligence chatbot Grok once its developer, xAI, implements corrective measures to address the platform’s misuse, particularly the generation of illicit and pornographic content.

Speaking at a press conference at the department of information and communications technology (DICT) headquarters in Quezon City on Wednesday, DICT secretary Henry Aguda said xAI had reached out to Philippine authorities and committed to resolving key concerns, including the creation of pornographic material involving minors.

“Ang pangako namin kay xAI, kapag naprotektahan niyo ang Pilipinas, ia-unblock naming yan (Our promise to xAI is that if you protect the Philippines, we will unblock it), and you can use us as reference in other countries,” Aguda said, as quoted by government-owned Philippine News Agency.

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Grok was blocked in the Philippines on Friday after authorities received reports that the platform could be used to generate non-consensual illicit deepfakes. The takedown followed a formal request by the DICT and the cybercrime investigation and coordinating centre (CICC) to the national telecommunications commission to restrict access to the AI chatbot under Republic Act 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

During Wednesday’s briefing, CICC undersecretary Renato “Aboy” Paraiso said xAI had pledged to tailor Grok for the Philippine market by removing image and content manipulation features that could be abused.

“The Grok AI app has reached out to us and stated that its platform will no longer use any content manipulation. Even after lifting the ban, the CICC will still closely monitor the app to ensure they comply with the rules and regulations in our country,” Paraiso said.

The earlier ban was ordered following instructions from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., with the DICT citing public harm linked to Grok’s ability to manipulate content, produce sexually explicit material, and generate deepfakes of real individuals without consent. Authorities have stressed that the platform will remain inaccessible until it complies with the country’s internet fair use and safety policies.

The Philippines is not alone in acting against Grok. Indonesia and Malaysia have also banned the AI platform, citing similar concerns over the creation and spread of non-consensual sexual deepfakes involving women and minors. Meanwhile, the EU, the UK and several other jurisdictions have launched investigations into alleged failures in content regulation by the platform.

For now, Philippine officials maintain that access to Grok will only be restored once safeguards are firmly in place and regulators are satisfied that the risks to users - particularly children - have been adequately addressed.

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