Sex crimes using deepfakes 'rampant' on school grounds

Deepfake sex crimes using artificial intelligence are increasing on school grounds in South Korea, raising concerns over insufficient education and measures to prevent further damage.

A student at an international school in Jeju English education city has been handed over to prosecutors for allegedly making sexually exploitative videos of his female student peers, according to the Seogwipo Police Department on Tuesday. The police also sent three of his classmates who watched the videos with him to prosecution.

Charged with violating the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, he allegedly used “deepfake” technology to create sexually exploitative videos by combining photos of the victims' faces with naked pictures of other women.

After police conducted digital forensics on his laptop and cell phone, the number of victims grew from two to 11.

A week ago, police launched an investigation on a report of a deepfake crime at an elementary school in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, where a child's face was edited on to another image using artificial intelligence.

According to the Korea Communications Commission's “2023 Cyberbullying Survey Results Report,” 10 percent of 9,000 students from fourth grade in elementary school to seniors in high school nationwide witnessed digital sex crimes.

The rate of witnessing illegal video distribution was 6.7 percent, up 0.9 percentage points from last year, and the rate of humiliating acquaintances also increased to 5.2 percent.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's analysis of school violence and juvenile crime in the first half of this year also showed that there were 662 reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment, an increase of 161.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Of these, 20 were deepfakes.

The term "deepfake," a combination of "deep learning" and "fake," refers to hyper-realistic videos created or digitally altered to resemble or replace the face of real people. By manipulating real footage and authentic-sounding audio, deepfakes are usually difficult to detect, putting victims in more vulnerable situations.

Although in 2020, the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes was enacted to punish illegal content, crimes using deepfake technology have recently become an epidemic among young people.

According to the results of the National Police Agency's crackdown on illegal fake videos, 65 of the 94 suspects were 19 years old or younger, almost 70 percent of the total. As young people are familiar with smart devices and have developed their skills, it has become easier for them to create deepfake photos and videos, a police official explained