Grok has assured the Philippines authorities of improved safety measures, leading to the country agreeing to restore access to the AI chatbot, but regulators signal continued tougher oversight.
Authorities in the Philippines said that this decision came after the developer committed to remove image-manipulation features from the platform that triggered concern and prompted a temporary block.
In a statement, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) revealed that Grok AI reached out to them indicating that the platform “will no longer use any content-manipulation.”
Philippines to keep a watchful eye on Grok
Despite lifting the ban, regulators will continue to monitor the platform for full compliance.
The CICC said that: “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,” underscoring caution.
Last week, Grok was prohibited from operating in the Philippines due to worries regarding sexualized material and or the possibility of exposing children to content produced automatically.
Governments throughout Europe and Asia have exerted pressure on Grok to create systems to protect users from image manipulation, which is being used to generate explicit content. The authorities have also pledged to continue monitoring the system.
On January 5, the European Commission, which has been vocal as the EU’s digital watchdog, also voiced concerns over the platform, saying it was “very seriously” looking at the complaints.
“Grok is now offering a ‘spicy mode’ showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images. This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling. This has no place in Europe,” EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier said then.
Throughout the monitoring period, Grok is tasked to show the required compliance as per their commitment. Authorities say the restoration of services does not show leniency but a belief that Grok will abide by the laws.
“The Grok AI app has reached out to us and stated that its platform will no longer use any content manipulation,” the developer pledged changes, reassuring authorities.
Through pairing access restoration with monitoring, the Philippines aims to balance innovation and protection, signaling that AI platforms must adapt to public expectations.
Other governments raise legal threats over Grok’s images
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a formal warning to X, demanding a complete review of Grok and its ability to generate nudity, sexualized material, or anything that’s unlawful.
Bloomberg claimed it saw a copy of the notice, dated January 2, which gave X 72 hours to submit a full report on actions taken. The letter warned of potential criminal charges and additional penalties under the country’s IT laws.
As reported by Cryptopolitan, France’s government didn’t hold back either. Officials said on Friday that Grok had generated “clearly illegal” sexual material on X without people’s consent. They said the chatbot’s behavior was likely in violation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which demands large platforms take strong action to limit illegal content.
Meanwhile, just last month, the European Union fined X €120 million (about $140 million) for breaking the Digital Services Act. The fine was for deceptive blue checkmark designs, opaque advertising systems, and refusal to give researchers data access. But Elon still blew up on the platform.
In one reply to the EU’s official post, Elon simply wrote: “Bullsh*t!” Then the next day, he posted, “The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people.”
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/philippines-greenlights-grok-return/
