A court in Ankara has ordered regulators on Wednesday to block access to Grok, the artificial-intelligence chatbot built into Elon Musk’s X platform, after it allegedly generated insulting replies about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a criminal offence in Türkiye.
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) enforced the ruling within hours, making Türkiye the first country to ban an AI tool outright on grounds of presidential insult. The chief prosecutor’s office in Ankara has also opened a formal investigation into the episode.
Insulting the head of state under Article 299 of the penal code carries a prison term of up to four years. Justice-ministry data show that 6,879 people — including more than 500 minors — faced court on such charges in 2023, with more than 1,600 convictions.
Neither X nor Musk’s AI firm xAI has commented on the Turkish decision. Last month Musk said Grok would be upgraded because “far too much garbage” remained in large-language training data.
Concerns about political bias and hate speech in chatbots have persisted since ChatGPT’s debut in 2022. Grok has previously been criticised for sharing antisemitic tropes and praising Adolf Hitler. Turkish media reported that the latest ban followed user prompts in Turkish that elicited derogatory remarks about Mr Erdogan.
The ruling comes as Türkiye tightens oversight of online platforms. Parliament last year authorised the BTK to suspend services that “threaten national security or public order,” and the government has fined several social-media firms for refusing to remove content deemed illegal.
Galatasaray suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the fifth round of the UEFA Champions League....
Beijing on Tuesday denied claims that it “detained or harassed” a resident from the disputed India-China border region at Shanghai airport, while ...
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will send special envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, aiming to resolve ...
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region erupted on Sunday morning (23 November), covering nearby villages in ash....
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that Ukraine needs “more support now” and confirmed that the UK will send additional air defen...
Galatasaray suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the fifth round of the UEFA Champions League.
Beijing on Tuesday denied claims that it “detained or harassed” a resident from the disputed India-China border region at Shanghai airport, while reaffirming its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as Zangnan.
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will send special envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, aiming to resolve remaining differences in a peace framework for Ukraine.
Napoli secured a 2-0 victory over Qarabağ in their UEFA Champions League group stage clash at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Italy.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in north-eastern Ethiopia erupted on Sunday for the first time in over 12,000 years, before halting on Monday, according to the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center.
On Monday (24 November), the U.S. formally designated Venezuela’s “Cartel de los Soles” as a foreign terrorist organisation and imposed additional terrorism-related sanctions on its members, including President Nicolás Maduro and other senior officials.
U.S. President Donald Trump has told his advisers that he plans to speak directly with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro according to Axios, as Washington designated him as the head of a terrorist organisation on Monday. A claim Maduro denies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has once again expressed strong support for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, condemning foreign interference and criticising U.S. actions in the region.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during last weekend's G20 summit in South Africa, Lee's office said on Monday.
Galatasaray suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise in the fifth round of the UEFA Champions League.
Beijing on Tuesday denied claims that it “detained or harassed” a resident from the disputed India-China border region at Shanghai airport, while reaffirming its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as Zangnan.
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will send special envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin, aiming to resolve remaining differences in a peace framework for Ukraine.
The Hayli Gubbi volcano in Ethiopia’s Afar region erupted on Sunday morning (23 November), covering nearby villages in ash.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday that Ukraine needs “more support now” and confirmed that the UK will send additional air defence missiles in the coming weeks.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment