South Korea Confronts Deepfake Pornography Crisis as Digital Sex Crimes Surge

[Social Media]

 

South Korea is grappling with an alarming rise in digital sex crimes, as deepfake pornography rapidly spreads across social media platforms, targeting unsuspecting women and girls. President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered a comprehensive crackdown on these digital sex crimes, particularly those involving minors, as many of the victims and perpetrators are teenagers. The issue has drawn widespread condemnation, with South Korean media highlighting the pervasive threat that all women face in becoming unknowing victims of this insidious form of exploitation.

 

The crisis has been fueled by the use of platforms like Telegram, where users create and share fake, sexually explicit images and videos, often with devastating consequences for the victims. President Yoon expressed his deep concern over the growing trend during a recent cabinet meeting, emphasizing the need for a swift and aggressive response from law enforcement. “Deepfake videos targeting unspecified individuals have been rapidly spreading through social media,” Yoon stated, calling for a thorough investigation to eradicate these digital sex crimes. He underscored the troubling reality that many victims are minors and that a significant portion of the perpetrators are teenagers themselves.

 

In response, South Korean police have launched a seven-month campaign aimed at aggressively pursuing those who create and disseminate these doctored materials. The campaign, set to begin on Wednesday, will particularly focus on those who exploit children and teenagers, seeking to hold accountable those responsible for perpetuating this growing epidemic. The crackdown marks a significant escalation in South Korea’s efforts to combat digital sex crimes, building on years of struggle against similar offenses such as molka—secretly filmed material of a sexual nature that has plagued the country for years.

 

Statistics from the South Korean police agency reveal the scale of the problem. In the first seven months of the year alone, 297 cases of deepfake crimes of a sexual nature were reported, a stark increase from the 180 cases reported last year and nearly double the number from 2021, when such data was first officially collected. Of the 178 individuals charged in these cases, 113 were teenagers, highlighting the disturbing involvement of youth in both the creation and distribution of these harmful images. However, experts believe that the true extent of the issue is likely much more severe than these figures suggest, as many cases go unreported or undetected.

 

One of the most notorious examples of the deepfake crisis involves a popular Telegram chatroom with approximately 220,000 members. This chatroom has become a hub for the creation and sharing of deepfake images, which are often made by doctoring photographs of women and girls. According to South Korean media, the victims of these deepfakes include a diverse group of individuals, such as university students, teachers, and military personnel. The Centre for Military Human Rights Korea, a counseling organization, reported that photos of female soldiers in uniform have been misused, with perpetrators treating these women solely as sexual objects.

 

The process of creating deepfake pornography often begins on social media platforms such as Instagram, where perpetrators save or capture photos of their victims without their knowledge. These images are then manipulated into sexually explicit content, which is subsequently shared among like-minded individuals in various online communities. A recent analysis by the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh highlighted the widespread use of Telegram channels to share deepfakes of female university students, as well as high school and middle school students, underscoring the breadth of the crisis.

 

Educational institutions have not been immune to the impact of these crimes. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union has reported instances of deepfake pornography involving school students, prompting the union to call on the education ministry to conduct an investigation. This highlights the vulnerability of young people in educational settings and the need for comprehensive measures to protect students from digital exploitation.

 

The investigation into the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfake images is expected to further tarnish Telegram’s reputation in South Korea. The app has already been linked to serious digital crimes in the country, most notably in 2020 when it was used to operate an online sexual blackmail ring. The leader of the ring, Cho Ju-bin, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for his role in blackmailing at least 74 women, including 16 teenagers, into sending degrading and sometimes violent sexual imagery of themselves.

 

Credit: The Guardian 2024-08-29

 

 

 

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[newbee2022]

4 hours ago, Social Media said:

 

South Korea is grappling with an alarming rise in digital sex crimes, as deepfake pornography rapidly spreads across social media platforms, targeting unsuspecting women and girls. President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered a comprehensive crackdown on these digital sex crimes, particularly those involving minors, as many of the victims and perpetrators are teenagers. The issue has drawn widespread condemnation, with South Korean media highlighting the pervasive threat that all women face in becoming unknowing victims of this insidious form of exploitation.

 

The crisis has been fueled by the use of platforms like Telegram, where users create and share fake, sexually explicit images and videos, often with devastating consequences for the victims. President Yoon expressed his deep concern over the growing trend during a recent cabinet meeting, emphasizing the need for a swift and aggressive response from law enforcement. “Deepfake videos targeting unspecified individuals have been rapidly spreading through social media,” Yoon stated, calling for a thorough investigation to eradicate these digital sex crimes. He underscored the troubling reality that many victims are minors and that a significant portion of the perpetrators are teenagers themselves.

 

In response, South Korean police have launched a seven-month campaign aimed at aggressively pursuing those who create and disseminate these doctored materials. The campaign, set to begin on Wednesday, will particularly focus on those who exploit children and teenagers, seeking to hold accountable those responsible for perpetuating this growing epidemic. The crackdown marks a significant escalation in South Korea’s efforts to combat digital sex crimes, building on years of struggle against similar offenses such as molka—secretly filmed material of a sexual nature that has plagued the country for years.

 

Statistics from the South Korean police agency reveal the scale of the problem. In the first seven months of the year alone, 297 cases of deepfake crimes of a sexual nature were reported, a stark increase from the 180 cases reported last year and nearly double the number from 2021, when such data was first officially collected. Of the 178 individuals charged in these cases, 113 were teenagers, highlighting the disturbing involvement of youth in both the creation and distribution of these harmful images. However, experts believe that the true extent of the issue is likely much more severe than these figures suggest, as many cases go unreported or undetected.

 

 

One of the most notorious examples of the deepfake crisis involves a popular Telegram chatroom with approximately 220,000 members. This chatroom has become a hub for the creation and sharing of deepfake images, which are often made by doctoring photographs of women and girls. According to South Korean media, the victims of these deepfakes include a diverse group of individuals, such as university students, teachers, and military personnel. The Centre for Military Human Rights Korea, a counseling organization, reported that photos of female soldiers in uniform have been misused, with perpetrators treating these women solely as sexual objects.

 

The process of creating deepfake pornography often begins on social media platforms such as Instagram, where perpetrators save or capture photos of their victims without their knowledge. These images are then manipulated into sexually explicit content, which is subsequently shared among like-minded individuals in various online communities. A recent analysis by the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh highlighted the widespread use of Telegram channels to share deepfakes of female university students, as well as high school and middle school students, underscoring the breadth of the crisis.

 

Educational institutions have not been immune to the impact of these crimes. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union has reported instances of deepfake pornography involving school students, prompting the union to call on the education ministry to conduct an investigation. This highlights the vulnerability of young people in educational settings and the need for comprehensive measures to protect students from digital exploitation.

 

The investigation into the dissemination of sexually explicit deepfake images is expected to further tarnish Telegram’s reputation in South Korea. The app has already been linked to serious digital crimes in the country, most notably in 2020 when it was used to operate an online sexual blackmail ring. The leader of the ring, Cho Ju-bin, was sentenced to 42 years in prison for his role in blackmailing at least 74 women, including 16 teenagers, into sending degrading and sometimes violent sexual imagery of themselves.

 

Credit: The Guardian 2024-08-29

 

 

 

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Well, it's disturbing to see where SI is heading to.

Create films without any real actors. Hollywood wouldn't be necessary anymore, thousands of actors jobless, even Brad Pitt or George Clooney.

TV news presented by SI presenters, and news which are fake.

[thaibeachlovers]

Oops. Seems they didn't think it through before allowing a medium that could do that. When porn is probably the largest industry on the internet, anyone with a brain cell would know where AI was going to be used.

As for stopping it . They can shut down as many sites as they like and prosecute as many people as they can catch ( small fish ), but the cat is out of the bag and there is no stopping it now.

 

40 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

Hollywood wouldn't be necessary anymore, thousands of actors jobless, even Brad Pitt or George Clooney.

TV news presented by SI presenters, and news which are fake.

If Clooney got replaced by an AI would we even know?

 

If I was a kid at school Media Studies would be the last career I'd be looking at- not even the last job. Media will go AI as soon as it can get out of it's contracts with live actors. In many cases it won't make any difference as media these days ( movies and TV ) is 90 % garbage IMO. It's so bad that I won't even watch tv anymore. I only watch movies on DVD that are about 10 years or more older.