South Korea announced claims against Telegram – Reuters.

South Korea strengthens fight against Telegram over deepfakes with women

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the strengthening of measures against the Telegram messenger. The reason was a scandal involving sexual deepfakes with South Korean women. Reuters reports this.

Yoon Suk Yeol called for a thorough investigation into digital sex crimes after local media reported that fake explicit images and videos involving South Korean women frequently appeared in Telegram chats.

The Communication Standards Commission, the state media regulator, plans to hold a meeting on August 28 to discuss measures to combat such content and its distributors.

«This is the exploitation of technology relying on anonymity protection. This is a clear criminal offense», – said Yoon Suk Yeol during a cabinet meeting, speaking about social networks in general and not directly mentioning Telegram.

In the first seven months of this year, South Korean police registered 297 sexual crimes committed using deepfakes. This is 117 more than last year. Most of the accused were teenagers and people in their twenties.

The analysis by the Hankyoreh newspaper, which studied Telegram channels spreading fakes involving university students and middle and high school students, gained special resonance. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union stated this week that it became aware of some cases where students were victims of such manipulations.

Meanwhile, the Center for Support of Victims of Sexual Violence in the Army reported on female military personnel who suffered from similar fakes in Telegram chats.

Reuters notes that a few years ago, Telegram's reputation in South Korea was tarnished. This happened after it was revealed that a network engaged in sexual extortion was operating in the app's chats.

Recall that Russian occupiers and propagandists actively use Telegram to communicate on the battlefield in Ukraine, in particular to recruit people for the war.

Telegram founder accused of collaborating with criminals

As reported, French intelligence services detained Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the Telegram messenger, on Saturday evening at Le Bourget airport. Durov arrived from Azerbaijan and was arrested immediately after leaving the private jet.

French law enforcement accuses Telegram founder Pavel Durov of refusing to cooperate in investigating a number of crimes. According to the French prosecutor's office, Durov is accused on 12 counts.