South Korea Opened Investigation into Telegram Over Deepfake Pornography

SEAToday.com, Seoul - South Korean police said on Monday (9/2) that they have launched an investigation into encrypted messaging platform Telegram for allegedly “ conspiring” in the distribution of so-called deepfake porn, including explicit images of teenagers created by artificial intelligence (AI).

Deepfake porn is pornographic content that features the faces of individuals digitally overlaid on top of other pornographic images or videos using AI technology.

A South Korean broadcaster reported last month that students were running an illegal Telegram chatroom, sharing deepfake pornographic material from classmates, one of many high-profile cases that sparked public outrage.

“In connection with this (deepfake) crime, the Seoul National Police Agency launched an investigation last week ... into those who conspired in the crime,” said Woo Jong-soo, head of the investigation bureau at the National Police Agency, according to a transcript of the press conference.

“Telegram was unresponsive to our previous requests for account information during the investigation of crimes related to Telegram,” he said.

Police received 88 reports about deepfake pornography last week alone, Woo said, adding that they have identified 24 suspects.

The Telegram investigation began after Pavel Durov, the founder and head of Telegram, was arrested last month in France.

Durov, 39, was charged with several counts of failing to control extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app.