The operator and accomplices who created and distributed deepfakes combining the bodies of famous female celebrities and ordinary people have been apprehended.
The Gyeongnam Police Agency announced on the 22nd that they arrested a high school student, identified as A, for distributing 500 nude photos and videos synthesized from female celebrities and ordinary individuals in three Telegram chat rooms from November last year to April this year, on charges of violating the law on the protection of children and adolescents from sexual abuse.
A is accused of creating about 500 deepfake materials by synthesizing the faces of female celebrities and ordinary individuals into nude photos and videos, and distributing them while operating three Telegram chat rooms from November last year to April this year.
In addition to A, 23 others have been charged without detention for directly creating or redistributing about 3,500 deepfake videos and photos in the chat rooms. Among them, 15 are teenagers, while the remaining 8 are in their 20s to 40s.
The police obtained intelligence about the crime on Telegram in February this year and apprehended all of them through undercover investigations and cooperation with Telegram.
The police pointed out that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and related platforms (synthesis sites) has made it easy to synthesize and alter photos and videos, leading to a surge in crimes. They stated, "To prevent deepfake sexual crimes among teenagers, we will strengthen cyber prevention education and continue to cooperate with educational authorities and civil society."
