What has caused the recent stir in South Korea?
Several domestic media outlets recently reported that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of South Korean women were often found in Telegram chat rooms.
Almost at the same time, South Korea feminist groups and international K-pop fans became more active on social media, calling for action and sharing tips on how to expose such chat rooms.
The protest also follows the sentencing this month of a man for his involvement in a deepfake pornography case targeting female students at Seoul National University.
Gender issues These are particularly sensitive issues in South Korea and are hotly debated in many public forums.
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Are sexual deepfakes more common in South Korea? South Korea is the country most targeted by deepfake pornography: its singers and actresses make up 53% of the people appearing in such deepfakes, according to a 2023 report on global deepfakes by Security Hero, a US startup focused on identity theft protection.
South Korean police say the number of deepfake sex crime cases they have taken on so far this year has risen to 297. That compares with 156 for all of 2021, when the first data was collected. Most of the victims and perpetrators are teenagers, they say.
South Korea has also had to deal with a number of high-profile digital sex crime cases in recent years, ranging from an online sexual blackmail ring to spycam pornography.
What are the authorities doing?
South Korea’s crackdown on sexual deepfakes coincided with Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram, coming under formal investigation in France this week as authorities there investigate organized crime on the messaging app.
In addition to urging social media companies to cooperate more actively with the removal and blocking of such content, South Korea’s media regulator has asked French authorities to cooperate regularly on issues related to Telegram and to facilitate direct communication with Telegram.
In addition, the South Korean government said on Friday it will push for stricter laws to make purchasing or viewing sexually exploitative deepfakes a criminal act.
South Korean police are planning a seven-month offensive to end Digital sexual crimesThe number of regulatory staff overseeing these matters will be increased and a 24-hour victim hotline will be established.
How are social media companies responding?
Telegram said in a statement to Reuters that it actively moderates harmful content on its platform, including illegal pornography.
This week, YouTube demonetized a channel with more than a million subscribers owned by a right-wing South Korean YouTuber and removed one of his videos after he downplayed the severity of deepfake crimes and mocked women for expressing concern.
He cited violations of the platform’s harassment policies and said he was “committed to eradicating digital sexual crimes on our platform.”
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