In first AI crackdown, Turkey blocks access to some Grok content
The access ban marked the first AI content censorship in Turkey, stemming from offensive material targeting the Turkish president, religious values, and the country’s founder.
ANKARA — Turkish authorities on Wednesday blocked access to some content generated by Grok, the AI tool developed by social media platform X.
The decision followed an investigation launched by the Ankara prosecutor’s office, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency reported.
The probe was launched on alleged insults directed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the secular, modern Republic of Turkey, and religious values, according to Anadolu.
Gonenc Gurkaynak, one of X’s lawyers in Turkey, also confirmed the investigation.
“I never imagined that one day Grok might face direct criminal prosecution and have to defend itself,” he wrote on X.
The decision marked the first AI content censorship in the country.
Cyber rights activist Yaman Akdeniz said the decision was based on roughly 50 Grok posts. “Turkey became the first country to censor @grok,” Akdeniz posted on X.
He added that it remains unclear whether X and its owner Elon Musk would delete the content that led to the access ban from the platform but he reminded listeners of the platform’s history of swiftly responding to Turkish authorities’ censorship requests.
Contacted by Al-Monitor, X's office in Turkey and the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority were not immediately available for comment.
In May, X blocked access to jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu’s account, sparking outrage among government critics. The platform pledged to appeal the decision, but Imamoglu’s account remains inaccessible in Turkey.
Imamoglu, a presidential contender from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, was jailed on March 23 on corruption charges widely criticized as politically motivated, aiming to sideline one of Erdogan’s key rivals.
During mass protests that erupted after his imprisonment, X restricted access to hundreds of accounts in Turkey.
Some of Grok’s content sparked controversy earlier this week after it generated antisemitic responses and praise for Adolf Hitler.
“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate content,” a post from Grok’s official X account said Wednesday.
“Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X.”
The post added that the issue was quickly identified and the model was updated.
This developing story has been updated since initial publication.
