(Reuters) – South Korean lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill that makes it a crime to view or possess sexually explicit deepfake images and videos, with penalties including prison terms and fines.
In South Korea, there were protests over Telegram group chats in which illegal and sexually explicit deepfakes were created and shared, prompting calls for harsher penalties.
Anyone who buys, keeps or views such material could face up to three years in prison or fines of up to 30 million won (US$22,600), according to the bill.
Currently, making sexually explicit deepfakes with the intention of distributing them is punishable by five years in prison or a fine of 50 million won (US$37,900), according to the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Law.
When the new law takes effect, the maximum penalty for these crimes will also increase to seven years, regardless of intent.
The bill will now need the approval of President Yoon Suk Yeol to be signed into law.
The South Korean Police have so far had more than 800 cases of deepfake sexual crimes this year, the Yonhap news agency reported this Thursday.
This figure contrasts with 156 for all of 2021, when the data was first collected. Most of the victims and perpetrators are teenagers, according to police.
Earlier this month, police launched an investigation into Telegram that will look into whether the encrypted messaging app was complicit in the distribution of deepfake sexually explicit content.
Countries around the world are considering how to respond to the proliferation of deepfake material.
The United States Congress is debating several bills, including one that would allow victims of non-consensual sexual deepfakes to be sued and another that would criminalize the publication of these types of images and force technology companies to remove them.
Earlier this year, social media platform X blocked users from searching for Taylor Swift after sexually explicit fake images of the pop singer proliferated on social media.
