parliamentarians declare war on pornographic deepfakes

This week, MPs changed the law to not only punish the individuals who produce these pornographic images, but also those who view them.

South Korean parliamentarians began, Thursday, September 26, to tackle pornographic deepfakes, these very elaborate computer tricks where malicious people manipulate photos or videos of a sexual nature. In South Korea, it’s almost a national crisis. There are demonstrations in Seoul, the government is mobilizing, the police have even started major raids and arrests. The authorities really want to put an end to this epidemic of pornographic deepfakes.

To produce these deepfakes, people use the computing power of artificial intelligence platforms to hijack videos. They collect the image of the face of a classmate, a colleague or a former girlfriend to superimpose them on pornographic scenes. It’s quite simple. All you need is a fairly powerful computer. Then, these people spread these fake images on social networks, especially on Telegram, for fun, to take revenge or to make money. Since the start of 2024, South Korean police say they have investigated more than 800 illegal deepfake videos, but thousands of young Korean women say they are victims of these traumatic fakes. In many cases, they are teenage girls trapped by boys at their school.

Korean MPs want to toughen the law to scare off men who use these videos. First, on Thursday, September 26, parliamentarians increased the penalties against those who create these sexual deepfakes with the intention of distributing them. Now, if they are caught, they risk a fine of 50 million won, that is to say 35,000 euros and above all a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. The penalties will be particularly severe if the victims are minors.

People who buy these images, who download them or who simply view them, knowing full well that they are fakes, can now also be prosecuted. The legislator threatens them with a fine of 20,000 euros and a prison sentence of up to three years. Here again, the heaviest sanctions will be imposed if the deepfakes target minors.

Other countries, notably France, are also starting to sanction the production of deepfakes. But South Korea goes much further. It is one of the first nations to pass sanctions against viewers of these videos. The challenge now will be to successfully apply this law.