South Korea cracks down on deepfake porn with increased penalties, education after scandals

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea connected Wednesday announced a package of steps to curb a surge successful deepfake porn, saying it will toughen reward for offenders, grow nan usage of undercover officers and enforce greater regulations connected societal media platforms.

Concerns astir nonconsensual explicit video contents that were digitally manipulated deepened successful South Korea aft unconfirmed lists of schools pinch victims dispersed online successful August. Terrified, galore girls and women removed photos and videos from Instagram, Facebook and different societal media accounts, while others held rallies calling for stronger steps against deepfake porn.

President Yoon Suk Yeol quickly confirmed nan accelerated dispersed of definitive deepfake contents and ordered officials to “root retired these integer intersexual crimes.” Police are now connected a seven-month typical crackdown that is to proceed until March 2025.

A task unit said successful a connection that nan authorities has been moving pinch lawmakers connected revising laws to summation reward for perpetrators progressive successful deepfake porn-related crimes.

It cited a precocious amended rule that for nan first clip makes acts of watching aliases possessing deepfake porn forbidden and punishable pinch up to 3 years successful prison. The maximum reward for those who nutrient aliases administer deepfake porn contents was accrued from 5 to 7 years successful prison.

Police person truthful acold detained 506 suspects this year, 411 of them aged betwixt 10 and 19.

The task unit said it’ll push for undercover online investigations, moreover successful cases erstwhile victims are adults. The rule presently authorizes specified methods only erstwhile victims are minors. The authorities besides plans different revision that would let authorities to confiscate profits made done deepfake porn businesses.

The task unit said it will push to enforce a good on social media platforms more aggressively erstwhile they neglect to forestall nan dispersed of deepfake and different forbidden contents. It said South Korea will scheme to summation monitors connected societal media platforms to 26, from nan existent 12.

The task unit will besides grow mandatory acquisition programs connected integer activity crimes astatine schools, and nutrient related nationalist consciousness videos pinch celebrities celebrated pinch teens and young group successful their 20s.

Most suspected perpetrators successful deepfake porn cases successful South Korea are teenage boys. Observers opportunity nan boys target female friends, relatives and acquaintances — besides mostly minors — arsenic a prank, retired of curiosity aliases misogyny.

The deepfake porn rumor successful South Korea has raised superior questions astir schoolhouse programs but besides threatened to worsen an already troubled disagreement betwixt men and women.

The prevalence of deepfake porn successful nan state has been attributed to a operation of factors, experts say, including dense usage of smartphones, an absence of broad activity and quality authorities acquisition successful schools, inadequate societal media regulations for minors, and besides misogyny and societal norms that sexually objectify women.