South Korea probes Telegram over sexually explicit deepfakes

South Korean police have launched an investigation into Telegram that will look at whether the encrypted messaging app has been complicit in the distribution of sexually explicit deepfake content, Yonhap news agency said.

Yonhap reported the news, quoting the head of the National Office of Investigation on Monday. The office's cyber investigation bureau declined to comment on the report.

The launch of an investigation would follow public and political outrage over digital deepfake pornography featuring South Korean women, with local media reporting such content is often found in Telegram chatrooms.

It would also go one step further than comments from the commissioner of the National Policy Agency, Cho Ji-ho, earlier on Monday who said his agency was reviewing whether to investigate secure messaging apps by charging them with abetting crimes.

Authorities in South Korea last week pledged a crackdown on sexually exploitative deepfake crimes — one that has coincided with a French investigation into Pavel Durov, Telegram's Russian-born founder.

Asked in parliament about criminal activities on Telegram, Cho said investigations into secure message providers have proven complicated and time-consuming.

Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last week it said it actively moderates harmful content on its platform including illegal pornography.

Surge in deepfakes

South Korea is the country most targeted by deepfake pornography, with its singers and actresses constituting 53 percent of the individuals featured in such deepfakes, according to a 2023 report on deepfakes globally by Security Hero, a US startup focused on identity theft protection.

Police in the country say the number of deepfake sex crime cases they have taken on so far this year has surged to 297.

That compares to 156 for all of 2021 when data was first collated. Most victims and perpetrators are teenagers, they say.

In addition to urging social media firms to cooperate with the deleting and blocking of such content more actively, South Korea's media regulator has asked French authorities to regularly cooperate in Telegram-related problems and facilitate direct communication with Telegram.

Additionally, the South Korean government said on Friday it will push for tougher laws to make the purchase or viewing of sexually exploitative deepfakes a criminal act.