SEOUL, South Korea. A 30-year-old South Korean woman continues to suffer from the trauma of deepfake pornography three years after receiving doctored images of herself online. Despite no physical assault, the impact was devastating. “It completely trampled me, even though it wasn’t a direct physical attack on my body,” she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press, requesting anonymity for privacy reasons. Her experience is just one of many as South Korea faces a surge of non-consensual explicit deepfake videos, which are increasingly accessible and easier to create.
The crisis has sparked nationwide outrage, leading to legislative changes. Just last week, South Korea’s parliament passed a law making it illegal to watch or possess deepfake porn. However, activists argue that much more needs to be done to address the root causes and long-term consequences of the epidemic.
Most of the perpetrators are reportedly teenage boys, who often target female friends, relatives, and classmates, typically minors, as a prank or out of misogyny. “Teenage (girls) must be feeling uneasy about whether their male classmates are okay. Their mutual trust has been completely shattered,” said Shin Kyung-ah, a sociology professor at Hallym University.
In August, unverified lists of schools with victims of deepfake porn circulated online, prompting many women and girls to hastily delete their photos and videos from social media. This has also led to protests and calls for stronger measures, with thousands of young women taking to the streets and politicians organizing forums to address the issue.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed a surge in deepfake content on social media, and police have launched a seven-month crackdown on the distribution of such material. Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, was arrested in France in August over accusations that his messaging app was used to distribute illegal content, including deepfake videos. Telegram has since pledged a “zero-tolerance policy” on illegal content.
The South Korean police have already detained 387 people for deepfake-related crimes this year, with over 80% being teenagers. The Ministry of Education reported that about 800 students have come forward regarding intimate deepfake content involving them. Experts believe the real scale of the problem is far larger.
According to U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Security Hero, South Korea is the “country most targeted by deepfake pornography.” The firm’s report stated that South Korean celebrities make up more than half of those featured in global deepfake pornographic content.
The growing prevalence of deepfake porn in South Korea is attributed to factors such as heavy smartphone use, the lack of comprehensive sex and human rights education, weak social media regulations for minors, and a misogynistic culture that “sexually objectifies women,” said Hong Nam-hee, a research professor at the Institute for Urban Humanities at the University of Seoul.
In a parliamentary session, lawmaker Kim Nam Hee read a letter from a deepfake victim who attempted suicide due to the relentless harassment she faced. Another victim, whose story was shared by former opposition leader Park Ji-hyun, fainted and was rushed to the emergency room after receiving abusive deepfake images, coupled with threats from her stalkers.
The 30-year-old woman interviewed by The AP revealed that her doctoral studies in the U.S. were disrupted for a year due to the trauma she experienced. Diagnosed with panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, she is still receiving treatment. Police have detained five men accused of producing and sharing fake explicit images of about 20 women, all of whom are graduates of Seoul National University. Two of the men, including one who sent the victim fake images in 2021, were former university classmates.
The fake images were created using photos she had posted on KakaoTalk, a local messaging app, and were manipulated with nude images of strangers. The images were circulated in a Telegram chatroom with 42 participants, further humiliating her. “Building trust with men is stressful because I worry that ‘normal-looking people could do such things behind my back,’” she said.
Critics argue that authorities have been slow to respond to the epidemic of digital sex crimes, which also include spy cam videos of women in public places. In 2020, members of a criminal ring were arrested for blackmailing women into producing explicit videos for sale. Despite recent efforts, the monitoring group ReSET noted that a random search of an online chatroom found more than 4,000 sexually exploitative images and videos.
A review of district court rulings showed that fewer than a third of the 87 individuals indicted for deepfake crimes since 2021 were sentenced to prison. Nearly 60% received suspended sentences, and fines, or were acquitted, with judges often showing leniency for first-time offenders.
The deepfake crisis has worsened South Korea’s gender divide, already marred by issues such as workplace discrimination against women and mandatory military service for men. “I feel scared of living as a woman in South Korea,” said 17-year-old Kim Haeun, who deleted all her photos from Instagram in response to the deepfake scare. She added, “Most sex crimes target women. And when they happen, I think we are often helpless.”
