Tengrinews.kz - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has called for a thorough investigation into sexual crimes following media reports that explicit images and videos involving South Korean women are frequently shared in Telegram chats.
The reports in local media coincided with the news of Telegram founder Pavel Durov's arrest in France as part of an investigation linked to serious crimes
The Korea Communications Standards Commission, the country's media regulator, is set to meet on Wednesday to discuss measures to combat explicit deepfakes.
"This is the exploitation of technology under the guise of anonymity. It is a clear criminal act," the President stated during a cabinet meeting.
However, it’s noted that President Yoon spoke about sexual crimes on social media in general, without directly mentioning Telegram.
According to South Korean police data, such crimes have surged recently. In the first seven months of this year, 297 cases were reported, surpassing last year's total of 180 cases and nearly doubling the figures from 2021 when law enforcement began tracking these offenses.
Most of those accused are teenagers and people in their 20s, according to the police.
The local media reports were based on an analysis published by the Hankyoreh newspaper, which examined Telegram channels allegedly spreading deepfakes involving university students as well as high school and middle school girls.
This week, representatives of the country's teachers' and education workers' union revealed that schoolchildren had also fallen victim to sexual deepfakes. The union urged the Ministry of Education to investigate the issue.
The report also highlighted that explicit deepfakes targeting female military personnel were found in Telegram chats, according to the Military Sexual Violence Support Center.
The agency reminded readers that Telegram's reputation in South Korea was tarnished several years ago when it was revealed that an online network engaged in sexual extortion was operating on the platform.
In 2020, a court sentenced the leader of this group, Cho Joo-bin, to 40 years in prison for extorting at least 74 women, including 16 minors, to obtain increasingly humiliating and sometimes brutal explicit photos.
Deepfakes are a synthetic image technique based on artificial intelligence, allowing original images to be transformed into videos.
Pavel Durov was arrested on August 24 at Paris Le Bourget Airport, where he arrived on his private jet from Baku. According to local press, Durov, who holds French citizenship, was on the country's wanted list.
After Durov’s arrest, Telegram’s popularity grew.
French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Durov was arrested as part of an "ongoing judicial investigation" and that the decision was "in no way political."
In addition to his Russian citizenship, the Telegram founder holds citizenships from Saint Kitts and Nevis, the UAE, and France.
