Key Highlights:
- Deepfake Crisis in Schools: A shocking trend in South Korea involves students creating AI-generated explicit images of female classmates and teachers, shared on Telegram chatrooms, with devastating consequences for the victims.
- Government Crackdown: In response to the rising cases, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered a crackdown on digital sex crimes, focusing on the misuse of AI deepfake technology.
- Challenges in Prosecution: Despite the crackdown, the prosecution of these crimes remains challenging, particularly when minors are the perpetrators, due to lenient legal consequences for teenagers.
In South Korea, the deepfake situation has taken a concerning turn, especially in the educational system where the teenage boys are allegedly obtaining harmless selfies from their female classmates’ social media profiles, utilizing AI technology to produce obscene images, and sharing them in dedicated Telegram chatrooms. These photographs are intended not just to humiliate but also to bother the victims, leaving many of them with psychological trauma. Bang Seo-Yoon, a young activist, has been at the forefront of exposing these crimes as her research uncovers a disturbing pattern where schoolboys, target girls they know, frequently from the same school as their victims, making the humiliation all the more personal and devastating. The victims are left feeling violated, not just by the images themselves but by the fact that these images are circulated among people they see daily.
Increased Cyber Violence
South Korea, a country famous for its fast internet and technologically savvy population, has long suffered with sexual cyber abuse. However, the introduction of AI and the widespread usage of Telegram have aggravated the situation. The anonymity given by Telegram, combined with the ease with which AI can be utilized to create deepfake content, has resulted in a recent surge in these crimes. According toa report by a cyber security firm Security Hero, the prevalence of deepfake images has increased by 500% globally in 2023, with 99% of the victims being women. South Korea, with its history of digital sex crimes, is now seeing this new form of abuse spread rapidly through its schools and universities. Despite efforts to curb such activities, the problem persists, and the toll on victims is immense.
The Government’s Response
In light of these alarming developments, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has ordered a nationwide crackdown or restriction on digital sex crimes, with a particular focus on the misuse of AI-generated deepfake technology. The crackdown, set to last for seven months, aims to address the rising tide of such crimes, especially those targeting minors, with the police ordered to pursue criminals ruthlessly. This has however shown out to be easier said than done as the nature of these crimes, which are frequently committed by juveniles, complicates the prosecution procedure. South Korean law is traditionally compassionate toward juveniles, making it difficult to apply harsh penalties even for such serious violations.
Legal challenges
The challenges in prosecuting deepfake crimes in South Korea are complex on one hand, the use of platforms like Telegram, which are notorious for their lack of cooperation with authorities, makes it difficult to track down and apprehend the culprits and on the other hand, even when the they are identified, the legal system’s leniency towards minors means that many escape with minimal consequences.
According to a South Korean Police Report, between 2021 and July 2024, 793 deepfake crimes were reported in South Korea, but only 16 people were arrested and prosecuted. This statistic highlights the difficulties in bringing these criminals to justice and in many cases, victims are left to gather evidence themselves, a process that can be retraumatizing and tiring. Even when cases do make it to court, the penalties handed down are often seen as insufficient, further motivating potential offenders.
Victims’ Struggles and the Road Ahead
For the victims of these crimes, the impact is devastating as the psychological trauma of seeing one’s image manipulated and shared among peers can be overwhelming. Many victims live in constant fear of where these images might end up next, a fear that is only arising by the lack of serious consequences for the perpetrators. Activists and experts argue that more needs to be done to protect victims and hold offenders accountable and this includes not only strengthening legal penalties but also providing better support for those affected by these crimes. There is moreover a growing call for social media platforms and messaging apps like Telegram to take more responsibility for the content shared on their platforms.
Conclusion
South Korea’s deepfake dilemma serves as a clear reminder of the hazards that developing technologies represent when misused and while the government’s recent crackdown is a start in the right way, it is evident that much more must be done to safeguard vulnerable people, particularly women and girls, from these pernicious kinds of abuse. The fight against digital sex crimes in South Korea is far from ended, and it will take a coordinated effort from all sectors of society to guarantee justice is served and victims are protected.
References
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/28/south-korea-deepfake-porn-law-crackdown