Telegram apologizes for handling of deepfake porn content

Telegram has issued a rare apology over content moderation on its platform in an effort to placate the South Korean authorities amidst a deepfake porn scandal.

In an email to South Korea’s media regulator, the encrypted messaging service said it was hoping to build “a relationship of trust” after an “unfortunate” situation regarding the distribution of deepfake porn material on the platform.

Telegram told the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) that it “apologized if there had been any misunderstanding between the two parties” and said it wanted to make the platform “safer” for Korean users.

It said it had removed 25 pieces of sexually explicit content as requested by the KCSC. The company also proposed a dedicated email address for future communication with the regulator, which demanded a “hotline” with the platform.

The KCSC welcomed the Telegram’s approach, which it said “recognized the seriousness” of the situation and was “very forward-looking.”

This comes after the South Korean police opened an investigation against Telegram, seeking to determine whether the platform was complicit in the recent wave of illegal deepfake porn targeting young women.

The police accused Telegram of “abetting” the dissemination of such images that proliferated over the past week and outraged the country. Seven suspects, six of them teenagers, have been questioned by the police.

Many of the victims were other students and teachers reportedly known to the perpetrators, who could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 50 million won ($37,500) if found guilty of creating sexually explicit deepfakes.

Last week, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol urged authorities to “thoroughly” investigate and eradicate digital sex crimes.

Telegram was notoriously passive in its communication with governmental agencies in the past, so it is unusual for the company to reach out directly to authorities. Mounting challenges across the globe may have forced the company to adopt a more proactive stance.

The investigation in South Korea follows the arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram’s Russian-born founder and chief executive, last month in France. He was detained on allegations of allowing child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraud to take place on his platform.