South Korean authorities are investigating a surge in sexually explicit images and video clips that have spread online and shocked the country, leading police to detain seven male suspects — six of them teenagers — police said Tuesday.
South Korean authorities began investigating the images and videos late last month after local media reported the spread of content created using deepfake apps. The youths were said to steal social media images from female classmates, teachers and neighbors and then use them to create sexually explicit content before circulating in chat rooms on the messaging app Telegram.
The crimes have sparked panic among many women in South Korea, and President Eun Suk Yeol last week called on his government to eradicate them. Digital sexual abuse.
“Many of the victims are minors and most of the perpetrators are teenagers,” Mr. Yun said during a cabinet meeting last Tuesday. “They may say they did this as ‘just a prank’, but this is a clear criminal act that used technology behind a wall of anonymity.”
The investigation in South Korea follows the arrest of Telegram’s Russian-born founder Pavel Durov by French authorities last month. French authorities were investigating child sexual abuse content, drug trafficking and fraud on the encrypted messaging app. Mr. Durov was The latter is charged With a range of offences, including complicity in offenses such as enabling the distribution of child sexual exploitation material.
A steep rise in DeepFax In South Korea The country made headlines after journalists discovered Telegram channels that identified female university, high and secondary school students as victims.
“Telegram is actively removing content reported from Korea that violates its terms of service and will continue to do so,” the company said in a statement.
Last week, 118 cases of suspected deepfake sex crimes were reported, resulting in the detention of seven male suspects, police said on Tuesday. Police have not yet charged any of those detained.
Under South Korean law, people convicted of making sexually explicit deepfakes with the intent to distribute them can face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won or $37,000. Women’s rights groups have called for new laws to punish those who own and view such content.
According to data compiled by the Korean National Police Agency, most of the people involved in the production and dissemination of the image – as well as many of the victims – are in their teens. Of the 178 people identified as criminal suspects by the agency in the first seven months of the year, 131 were juveniles, police said.
The number of suspects was expected to increase as more people reported cases of deepfake sexual violence.
South Korea has struggled with digital sex crimes in recent years. In 2020, Cho Joo-binThe mastermind of a digital sex crime ring was sentenced to 40 years in prison for luring girls, including teenagers, who he sold online through encrypted chat rooms on Telegram.
This year, South Korea has seen an increase in online deepfake sex crimes. According to the police, between January and July, 297 cases were reported, almost three times the number reported in the same period last year.
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