South Korea sees outcry over sexual deepfakes in Telegram chatrooms

South Korea is witnessing an outcry over sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of women found in Telegram chatrooms, the news agency Reuters reported on Tuesday (Aug 27), citing state media.

During a televised cabinet meeting, PresidentYoon Suk Yeol called for digital sex crimes to be thoroughly investigated. "It's an exploitation of technology while relying on the protection of anonymity. It's a clear criminal act," President Yoon added.

He talked aboutsex crimes on social media in general and did not mention Telegram by name.

Surge in online deepfakes in South Korea

Citing the police, Reuters reported on Tuesday that online deepfake crimes surged in South Korea. The police said that 297 cases were reported in the first seven months of 2024.That's up from 180 last year and nearly double the number in 2021 when data first began to be collated.

The police added that most of the accused were teenagers and people in their 20s.

An analysis by a local newspaper looked at Telegram channels where it said that deepfakes of female university and high and middle school students were being shared.

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Earlier this week, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union said that it had been informed of some cases where school students had been the victims of sexual deepfakes.

Sexually explicit deepfakes targeting female military personnel have also been found in Telegram chatrooms, according to the Military Sexual Abuse Victim Support Center, a group that supports victims of sexual abuse in the military.

Impact on Telegram's reputation in South Korea

Reuters further reported that Telegram's reputation has been tarnished for some years in the countryafter it emerged that an online sexual blackmail ring was operating mostly in the app's chatrooms.

In 2020, the ring's leader, Cho Ju-bin, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for blackmailing at least 74 females, including 16 teenagers, into sendingdegrading and sometimes violent sexual imagery of themselves.

These developments in South Korea come as Telegram's founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Pavel Durov was arrested in France a few days back.

On Monday, French prosecutors said that Durov's arrest was part of an investigationinto crimes related to images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on Telegram.

On Tuesday,a spokesperson for the public prosecutor said Durov's detention had been extended by up to 48 hours.

(With inputs from agencies)