Deepfake Creator Sentenced to Prison for AI-Generated Sexual Content of aespa Members
A creator of deepfake sexual content depicting K-pop group aespa's members Karina and Winter was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by South Korea's Daegu High Court. SM Entertainment reported collecting thousands of pieces of evidence of malicious content across multiple platforms and pledged to pursue ongoing legal action against deepfakes and related abuse.
What happened
An individual identified as A created deepfake videos of aespa members Karina and Winter and sold them for profit.
The Daegu High Court sentenced the creator to two years and six months in prison, with orders to complete 80 hours of sexual violence treatment programming and a seven-year employment ban from institutions related to children and adolescents.
Reported impact
SM Entertainment stated it has collected thousands of pieces of evidence of malicious posts and comments targeting aespa across various online platforms, including Naver, Daum, Theqoo, Instiz, DC Inside, Ilbe Storage, X, Facebook, and TikTok.
The agency vowed to apply a zero-tolerance principle and continue pursuing legal action against deepfakes, malicious rumors, false information, and sexual content related to the group.
Index analysis
The creation and sale of deepfake sexual content of the aespa members was determined to constitute sexual violence.
Governance controls
SM Entertainment said it conducts ongoing monitoring through reports from fans and in-house surveillance to collect evidence of criminal conduct targeting the group.
The agency stated it has filed complaints with investigative authorities, with many accused individuals already identified and investigations underway.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.