Any attempt to cut off access to Grok in the Philippines would require local internet providers to carry out the restriction, according to Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Henry Aguda.
“Hindi kami push button na ‘pag priness namin, blocked na ‘yan. ‘Pag may blocking ‘yan, all of the [internet service providers] would have to initiate the blocking,” Aguda said during a Thursday press briefing in Malacañang.
Aguda said the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) have already begun coordinating actions to block the AI chatbot, which is linked to social media platform X, after reports that the tool is being used to produce explicit deepfakes.
“CICC is working na together with NTC to do the blocking of that one,” he said.
He added that the government intends to move quickly and cited the nature of the reported content as the basis for immediate action. “This week, sigurado mare-resolve na ‘yan… hindi na nga tayo kailangang humingi ng permission sa X o tumimbre sa kanila because of the content itself. Dapat ano na ‘yan, blocked,” Aguda said.
Southeast Asian governments have also taken steps against the chatbot. Malaysia and Indonesia have already moved to block access to Grok, citing concerns that it can be used to create pornographic and other unauthorized images, including content involving women and minors.
Aguda said Grok has a relatively limited footprint in the Philippines, with ChatGPT and Claude still leading among AI tools used in the country.
