Parliamentary subcommittee passes bill to toughen punishment for digital sex crimes against teens

A parliamentary subcommittee passed a bill Thursday that calls for tougher punishment for digital sex crimes using deepfake technologies against children and teenagers.

During a subcommittee legislative review session, the National Assembly's gender equality and family committee made the bipartisan decision to pass the revision of the act on the protection of children against sex crimes.

The proposed bill calls for sentencing of at least three years imprisonment for blackmailing young people using sexually abusive materials and five years behind bars for coercing them with such materials.

Under the current law, intimidation with sexual exploitation materials is subject to one year or longer in prison and coercion to at least three years of imprisonment.

The subcommittee also passed the revision to the sexual violence prevention act, which calls for greater responsibility by the government for supporting victims.

The move came as South Korea has seen a surge in deepfake porn videos exploiting the face images of young or underage women in group chat rooms, with many of the victims known to be teenagers.

"The ruling and the opposition parties joined hands to ease the concerns of the people about the rising deepfake cases. We will work together to pass them during this regular session," Rep. Kim Sang-wook of the ruling People Power Party said.

A total of 434 deepfake damage cases affecting underage students and teachers have been reported from schools this year, according to the education ministry. (Yonhap)