Deepfake pornography epidemic affects South Korean women and girls
South Korea faces a widespread crisis of non-consensual deepfake pornography targeting women and girls, with seven complaints filed against female soldiers and thousands of victims reporting psychological trauma. Parliament recently criminalized viewing or possessing such content, while most perpetrators are identified as teenage boys.
What happened
A surge of non-consensual deepfake pornography targeting South Korean women and girls has created a crisis. Seven complaints of deepfake porn targeting female soldiers were filed with the Center for Military Human Rights during a special report campaign from September 3-30, with the fabricated content revealing victims' real names and titles.
Most suspected perpetrators in South Korea are teenage boys who target female friends, relatives and acquaintances, often minors, as a prank, out of curiosity or misogyny. The deepfake videos and images were shared on platforms including Telegram group chat rooms.
Reported impact
A 30-year-old victim reported lasting trauma three years after receiving explicit deepfake images of herself, struggling to interact with men and experiencing distress from using a mobile phone. Many other South Korean women have come forward with similar experiences.
Thousands of young women have staged protests demanding stronger steps against deepfake porn. Girls and women have hastily removed photos and videos from social media platforms out of fear of victimization.
Index analysis
The deepfake content used official profile images of female soldiers and everyday photos, with enough detail to reveal victims' identities. Deepfake porn in South Korea gained widespread attention after unconfirmed lists of schools with victims spread online in August.
Governance controls
Parliament revised the law to make watching or possessing deepfake porn content illegal. The Defense Ministry's investigative body worked to discover and track the deepfake content targeting female soldiers.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.