Turkey blocks X’s Grok content for alleged insults to Erdogan, religious values

A Turkish court on Wednesday blocked access to some content from Grok, developed by Elon Musk-founded company xAI, after authorities said the chatbot generated responses insulting President Tayyip Erdogan, modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and religious values.

Concerns over political bias, hate speech and factual inaccuracy in AI chatbots have mounted since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, with Grok dropping content accused of antisemitic tropes and praise for Adolf Hitler.

Ankara chief prosecutor’s office said it launched an investigation, and marked Turkey’s first such ban on content from an artificial intelligence tool.

Authorities cited violations of laws that make such insults a criminal offence punishable by up to four years in prison.

Neither X, nor its owner Elon Musk could immediately be reached for comment. They have not referred to the decision on the platform.

Last month, Musk promised an upgrade to Grok, suggesting there was “far too much garbage in any foundation model trained on uncorrected data”.

Grok, which is integrated into X, reportedly generated offensive content about Erdogan and Ataturk when asked certain questions in Turkish, media said.

The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) adopted the ban after the court order.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu was later cited by broadcaster NTV as saying that Turkey had not yet imposed a total access ban on Grok but that it would do so if necessary, adding Turkish authorities would discuss the issue with X.

Yaman Akdeniz, a cyber law expert at Istanbul Bilgi University, said authorities had identified some 50 posts by Grok as the basis for the investigation, ruling on the access ban and removal of certain content to “protect public order”.

“Turkey has become the first country to impose censorship on Grok,” he said on X.

Turkey has in recent years significantly increased oversight on social media platforms and online streaming services, passing laws to give authorities more control over content, detaining or arresting individuals for posts, launching probes into companies and limiting or blocking access to certain sites.

Critics say the law is frequently used to stifle dissent, while the government maintains it is necessary to protect the dignity of the office.