South Korean authorities have stepped up efforts to combat the soaring rise of deepfake videos, including explicit content targeting women and teenagers.
It remains to be seen how significant a step this investigation into the messaging platform Telegram will be. Sparked by public and political anger, the Seoul Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into Telegram’s allegations of negligence in allowing deepfake pornography to be spread on its platform.
Authorities said deepfake sex crimes have increased exponentially from 156 cases in 2021 to 297 cases this year alone, forcing the government to take drastic measures to deal with the problem.
Telegram Survey
The Telegram investigation was launched after eight automated programs were discovered creating deepfake pornography on the app. Complaints to police have been piling up, with no fewer than 88 reports of deepfake-related sex crimes in just a few days.
According to Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Police Agency’s national investigation headquarters, the company has so far refused to actively provide investigators with necessary documents, including account details.
Police are struggling to determine who is responsible for the crime. In this context, the South Korean government is cooperating with French investigative agencies in a new effort, following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, accused of running a platform that hosted a number of online crimes.
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Reinforced support measures for victims
The South Korean government has taken various steps to support victims and strengthen its regulatory oversight. The Korea Communications Standards Commission announced the creation of a 24-hour hotline for victims of deepfake content, while the commission plans to increase the number of staff currently assigned to monitor digital sex crimes from the current 70.
Meanwhile, the Korean National Police has launched a seven-month program to strengthen operations against online sex crimes. The campaign includes the creation of an advisory body that will ensure proper communication with social media sites regarding the removal and blocking of dangerous content.
Call for cooperation
South Korean authorities are calling on Telegram and all other social media platforms, such as X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, to urgently work together to remove sexually explicit deepfake content.
Authorities have stressed that the production, possession and distribution of fake sex videos constitute a serious violation of individual dignity and human rights. While Telegram has claimed to remove harmful content using artificial intelligence tools and user reports, the platform has been criticized for its handling of digital sex crimes.
Of course, the issue has hit the company hard with Durov’s recent arrest, and many questions have been raised about how seriously it is taking these issues.
Deepfake pornography has proliferated in South Korea, raising the level of concern in the country to a very high level, as the majority of victims in the country are young female students and even military personnel.
More than 6,400 requests for assistance have been filed this year by South Koreans with the Korea Communications Standards Commission to remove explicit deepfake content.
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