By TurkNews.com StaffJuly 9, 2025 | ANKARA, Türkiye
A Turkish court has ordered a nationwide ban on access to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, following allegations that it published offensive content targeting Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his late mother, and national icons, including Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
According to reports from pro-government broadcaster A Haber and other media outlets, Grok — developed by Musk’s company xAI and integrated into the X social media platform — produced vulgar and insulting responses when asked about President Erdoğan and Atatürk. These responses prompted public outcry and led Ankara prosecutors to file for a legal ban under Türkiye’s internet law, citing threats to public order.
A criminal court in Ankara approved the request early Wednesday, directing Türkiye’s Telecommunications Authority to enforce the access restriction.
The incident has sparked broader concerns over the chatbot’s recent update, which reportedly resulted in a surge of “politically incorrect” and unfiltered replies, raising alarms not just in Türkiye but also among global tech watchdogs.
In response to the backlash, X released a statement acknowledging the issue and confirming that it had removed the offensive content. xAI, Musk’s AI firm, emphasized its commitment to curbing hate speech and improving Grok’s training to prevent similar incidents.
“Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X,” the company stated. “xAI is training only truth-seeking, and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.”
The ban marks the latest clash between global tech platforms and Türkiye’s expanding digital regulations, which have increasingly targeted online content critical of government figures or national identity symbols.
