South Korean police announced on Monday, September 2, that they had opened an investigation into the messaging service Telegram, which they accuse of” encourage “ the dissemination of fake pornographic content using, in particular, images of minors. Such content, known as pornographic deepfakes, is a montage generated by artificial intelligence in which the faces of people appear in sexual photographs or videos.
“Telegram has not responded to our previous requests for account information. [d’utilisateurs] in previous investigations into Telegram-related crimes »said Woo Jong-soo, head of the South Korean National Police Investigation Bureau.
“In light of these crimes, the Seoul National Police Agency opened its investigation last week. (…) for encouraging these crimes”Woo added during a press conference whose transcript was obtained by Agence France-Presse. Police received 88 reports over the past week and identified 24 suspects, he said.
Photos of victims found on social media
The creators of this illegal content often take photos of their victims from social media. According to the police, most of the victims are girls, 60% of whom are minors.
Online crime is widespread in South Korea, according to activists, who cite in particular the exploitation of spy cameras and the posting of revenge porn (private pornographic content shared without consent out of revenge).
At the end of August, the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh She claimed that university students were running a Telegram chat group where pornographic deepfakes of their fellow students were circulating, a case that sparked public outrage.
The investigation opened by Seoul police follows the arrest on August 24 in France of Telegram boss Pavel Durov. After four days of indictment, the billionaire was released but is subject to strict judicial control, including a ban on leaving French territory. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, he is accused in particular of “refusing to communicate the information necessary for interceptions authorized by law” and of complicity in crimes and organized crimes by the platform.
South Korean police have pledged to cooperate with “several research bodies, including France”Mr. Woo said.
