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

As fears grow that anyone can become a victim of deepfake sexual exploitation, public opinion is growing that anyone involved in the business, not only in the production of fake videos but also in possessing and watching them, should be severely punished. Especially since the perpetrators and victims were in their teens, the “tactical youth system” that commits sex crimes and is not punished, has come under renewed fire.

According to the daily economic news on 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 punished, even if it is viewed or possessed. Another problem is that punishment is only possible if the purpose of the 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 aged 10 to 14 would be exempt from criminal penalties and would not have a criminal record even if they committed a crime. This means that harsh penalties are needed given the pain that deepfake sex crimes cause to victims.

According to the National Police Agency, 325 of the 461 suspects in deepfake-related crimes from 2021 to July were teenagers, more than 70% of the total. Adolescents who have been familiar with digital devices since childhood are committing crimes by easily accessing deepfake technology.

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

The government is only responding individually without a control tower. The Cabinet Office quickly took over the role of the control tower, but comprehensive measures are not expected to be released 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 receiving a request for correction from the Korea Communications Standards Commission, the Korea Communications Commission has the power to issue a correction order and file criminal charges. The Ministry of Science and ICT is playing a major role in developing detection technology to block deepfakes in advance. The key is the introduction of effective regulations for so-called big tech, such as Telegram and YouTube, which are channels through which deepfakes are spread and distributed. Unlike the European Union (EU), which has enforced the removal requirement, Korea has failed to come up with strong measures. South Korea’s countermeasures remain at the level of “rapid cooperation to respond to deepfake solutions.” The US has initiated the introduction of regulations by forcing AI-based content to be marked with watermarks under the White House executive order.

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

The Korea Communications Standards Commission has only recently taken action to secure a hotline to communicate 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 had hotlines with 11 global platform operators, including Google, and requested immediate corrections, but reportedly only communicated with Telegram via email.

Regarding the spread of “deepfake sexual exploitation,” Attorney General-designate Shim Woo-jung said: “When we take office, we will expand and appoint prosecutors for digital sex crimes. We will also set up a system for rapid cooperation with the police to respond severely.”

Candidate Shim said in a written response to the National Assembly on 1, “The production and distribution of fake videos that abuse deepfake technology is a serious crime that causes extreme mental and social pain to victims.” “We are seriously considering the problems of criminal acts using security messaging,” he said. “We will actively review the legal responsibilities of security messaging operators such as Telegram and the countermeasures of the Public Prosecution Service.”

(Reporter Jin Young / Reporter Lee Dong In / Reporter Jung Ju Won)