Trigger warning: This article mentions sexual abuse.
(January 15, 2026) – The Philippines will block Grok amid concerns that the
artificial intelligence chatbot is being used to generate sexualized deepfakes, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Thursday.
Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda said the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) are already coordinating on blocking the platform soon.
“CICC is working na, together with NTC, to do the blocking of that one,” Aguda said in a press briefing at the Malacañan Palace. “‘Yan, OSAEC (online sexual abuse or exploitation of children) na ‘yan e, so ‘yan talaga, immediate.”
The government does not need to seek permission from the platform or coordinate with its owners before blocking due to the nature of the content, the secretary said.
Aguda noted that blocking online platforms is not instantly implemented.
“Hindi kami push-button na ‘pag priness namin, block na ‘yan. ‘Pag may blocking ‘yan, all of the ISPs (internet service providers) would have to initiate the blocking,” he said.
Grok, a chatbot on social media platform X developed by billionaire Elon Musk’s xAI, has been under international scrutiny over concerns that it has been used to generate sexually explicit deepfakes of women and children.
Two Southeast Asian neighbors, Malaysia and Indonesia, have blocked the chatbot.
For its part, xAI said it has imposed restrictions on the use of its chatbot, Reuters reported.
Aguda said authorities have observed the use of AI-generated content not only for disinformation but also for other illegal activities.
“We need to clean the internet now kasi marami na pong toxic contents, especially with the advent of AI. Hindi mo na alam kung ano ‘yung totoo o hindi,” Aguda said.
Source: News 5