South Korea's deepfake porn crisis

Last weekend, Heejin (not her real name) received a disturbing message via Telegram. An unknown sender threatened to leak her personal information and photos. To her dismay, she subsequently received an old school photo, followed by a sexually explicit fake image of herself. These images appeared to be taken with advanced deepfake technology.

The scale of the problem

Journalist Ko Narin came across a shocking discovery. She found dozens of Telegram groups where users shared photos of famous women and then turned them into pornographic material using AI software. These groups focused not only on students, but also on middle and even primary school students.

KO's research revealed an organized system. In some chat rooms, members were encouraged to share personal information and multiple photos of victims. Most shocking was a group focused on underage students from one school, with more than 2,000 members.

This is not the first time that South Korea has faced such a crisis. In 2019, a similar scandal was revealed, using Telegram to distribute explicit material from women and children.

Call to action

Women's rights activists are calling for stricter regulation of apps like Telegram. Park Jihyun, who exposed the scandal in 2019, is even calling for the app to be banned in South Korea if companies do not want to cooperate with authorities.

The deeper cause

While new AI technology is exacerbating the problem, experts point out that the underlying cause is structural sexism. They call for more attention to gender equality and better education for young men about sexual abuse.

Future steps

The South Korean government has announced that it will increase penalties for creating and sharing deepfake images. Also, those who view such material will be penalized. However, it remains a challenge to deal effectively with the perpetrators, often even teenagers.

This crisis has created an atmosphere of distrust and fear among young women in South Korea. Restoring trust and ensuring online safety will be crucial challenges for society in the coming period.