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.
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Iran on 4 August approved the creation of a National Defence Council, following June’s brief air conflict with Israel, the country’s most serious military confrontation since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Hamas on 4 August said it is ready to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver humanitarian aid to hostages held in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, as outrage mounts over the deteriorating condition of captives and a rising death toll from hunger.
All five workers trapped underground in a collapse at Chile’s El Teniente copper mine have been found dead, regional prosecutors confirmed on 4 August, bringing the death toll to six.
At least 54 migrants have drowned and dozens remain missing after a boat carrying around 150 people sank in bad weather off southern Yemen on Sunday, according to health officials.
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Iran on 4 August approved the creation of a National Defence Council, following June’s brief air conflict with Israel, the country’s most serious military confrontation since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Hamas on 4 August said it is ready to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver humanitarian aid to hostages held in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, as outrage mounts over the deteriorating condition of captives and a rising death toll from hunger.
All five workers trapped underground in a collapse at Chile’s El Teniente copper mine have been found dead, regional prosecutors confirmed on 4 August, bringing the death toll to six.
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