As fears grow that anyone could become a victim of deepfake sexual exploitation, public opinion is ..

Deepfake is easy to make. A crime that needs a purpose to spread. You can’t just watch and possess it. 70% of perpetrators are minors. The law is being challenged by the rules of juvenile justice. Telegram’s back-to-back hotline. Attorney General “Leave Adultery Behind” Telegram Operator Legal Action”

As fears spread that anyone can become a victim of deepfake sexual exploitation, public opinion is growing that anyone involved in the business, not only in producing fake videos but also in possessing and watching them, should be severely punished. Especially since the perpetrators and victims are concentrated in their teenage years, the “tactical youth” system, which commits sexual crimes and is not punished, has come under renewed attack.

To summarize the daily economic news on January 1, the provision that can punish deepfake sexual exploitation in the current law is “Article 14-2 of the Special Law on Sexual Violence Crimes.” The clause stipulated that producing or distributing fake videos could result in a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

The limitation of this clause, however, is that it is not punishable only by viewing or possessing it. Another problem is that punishment is only possible if the purpose of distribution is proven. For this reason, they often escape punishment or end up with light fines, even if they are brought to court, because they did not intend to distribute them.

As deepfake sex crimes spread among teens, there has also been controversy over lowering the age of teen consent. In other words, teens 10 or older and under 14 are exempt from criminal penalties and have no criminal record, even if they commit a crime. This means that harsh punishments are needed given the pain that deepfake sex crimes cause to victims.

According to the National Police Agency, 325 of the 461 suspects of deepfake-related crimes from 2021 to last month were teenagers. It accounts for more than 70 percent of the total. In other words, teenagers who have been familiar with digital devices since childhood are committing crimes by easily gaining access to deepfake technology.

“Deepfake sex crimes are sometimes treated as a joke among students and sometimes used as a means of bullying,” said Kim Mi-jeon, head of the counseling department at the Green Tree Foundation. “The biggest problem is that platforms ignore the distribution of deepfakes.”

The government is only responding individually to each department without a control tower. The Office for Government Policy Coordination quickly took over the role of control tower, but comprehensive measures are not expected until next month.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission has the power to remove and block deepfake pornography in principle. If it is left unattended even after the Korea Communications Standards Commission receives a request for correction, the Korea Communications Commission has the power to issue a correction order and file criminal charges. The development of detection technology to block deepfakes in advance plays a major role in the Ministry of Science and ICT.

There is also much disagreement between ministries over the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology used as a deepfake production tool. According to an assessment report by the National Assembly’s Science and Technology Information and Communication Committee on the Basic Act on AI, the Korea Communications Commission said sanctions, including penalties and fines, are needed to ensure the effectiveness of high-risk AI regulations, but the Ministry of Science and ICT virtually demurred, saying, “Social consensus is needed.”

They are also faced with the definition of AI that is prohibited by the law. The Ministry of Science and ICT opposed the specific scope of AI, which is only prohibited by the European Union (EU), saying that there are no cases in the United States and Japan. On the other hand, the Korea Communications Commission suggested that it should be specifically mentioned in the law and regulated like the EU.

The key is to introduce effective regulations on so-called big tech like Telegram and YouTube, which serve as conduits for deepfake distribution and distribution. Unlike the EU, Korea has failed to come up with strong measures. The US has started introducing regulations, including watermarking, on content that uses AI under the White House’s executive order.

On the other hand, the Fair Trade Commission pushed for the introduction of a platform law to regulate the monopoly of big tech companies, but faced opposition from the US. This also exposed the problem that the platform law focuses on domestic platform companies and ecosystems, and not on global big tech companies.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission has belatedly taken steps to secure a hotline with Telegram. The Korea Communications Standards Commission only recently listed Telegram for cooperation in requesting corrections following the deepfake incident. The Korea Communications Standards Commission requested immediate corrections by having hotlines with 11 global platform operators, including Google, but it is known to have only communicated with Telegram via email.