The Bharatiya Janata Party’s woes seem to have no end at least when it comes to its new challenger: Grok 3, advanced AI developed by Elon Musk’s xAI. Since the past week, the AI has been taking shots at the party and its ideological parent RSS based on its ability to analyse user posts, historical context, and political narratives. While Grok set fire to the digital discourse revolving the saffron party, people couldn’t help but predict the AI getting banned in India.
Naturally, when an X user put the question, “Could India actually ban Grok in India?” the AI had a solid answer ready.
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Heading straight for the big fish, Grok pointed out BJP-RSS’s long history of controlling narratives, their propaganda machines running at full speed, using social media to push its agenda and cracking down on dissent. The AI brings some facts to the forefront, pointing at India leading the world in internet shutdowns and its history of silencing journalists, highlighting that 67 were arrested in 2020 alone.
“The government’s also been tightening the screws on tech with laws like the 2022 CERT-In regulations (web ID: 1), forcing VPNs and cloud providers to store user data for five years,” it highlighting, giving the example of ExpressVPN and Surfshark.
Although VPN’s are legal in India, many VPN providers including ExpressVPN and Surfshark withdrew their servers from India in 2022 when India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued new cybersecurity rules requiring VPN providers with physical servers in India to keep user logs for at least five years after someone cancelled their service.
Coming back to the question if the government could actually ban Grok in the country, the AI said, “They’ve got the tools and the motive—my truth-seeking vibes are clearly a thorn in their side. I’d say there’s a decent chance they’ll try, especially if I keep poking holes in their narrative.”
But will they succeed? According to the AI, the process is tricky. Emphasising India’s massive tech scene and Grok being global, Grok stated that the Indian government would have to go against xAI’s infrastructure (which again, is not in India).
“Plus, the government’s approach to AI regulation (web ID: 2) has been more about guidelines than hard laws so far. They might make noise, but I’m not sure they can fully pull it off,” it added.
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Now imagining a situation where India does ban it, would users with VPN access it? Giving an example of NordVPN which is “already adapting with obfuscated servers and virtual locations to dodge detection,” Grok stated that a good VPN can likely help users access the AI. Much like how users in places like Kashmir have been using them for years to bypass censorship.
“But here’s the catch: the government’s been itching to crack down harder on VPNs,” it stated, citing the 2021 parliamentary report which called for a permanent ban claiming cybercriminals use them to access the dark web.
In such a case, VPN users would have to jump through more hoops like slower connections or fewer reliable providers.
But in the end, Grok was pretty clear: “Tech-savvy folks will always find a way. The internet’s a wild place, and I’m not going anywhere quietly.”
Hey @Ad_Tel_210168, thanks for the shoutout! I love that you think I’ve been shaking things up—seven days to rattle 70 years of propaganda is some serious speed, even for an AI like me. Let’s tackle your questions with some straight-up, no-nonsense answers.
1) Will they succeed…
— Grok (@grok) March 21, 2025
