Telegram under investigation in South Korea over deepfakes

South Korean police have launched an investigation into Telegram over deepfake sex crimes following the arrest of the messaging app’s founder, Pavel Durov, in France.

The preliminary probe will focus on whether Telegram was complicit in disseminating deepfake sexual content targeting South Korean women, including teenagers, Yonhap news agency reported.

The agency said it was the first investigation into Telegram’s corporate entity by the South Korean police.

There has been a spike in deepfake sex crime cases in South Korea this year, which experts attribute to the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and the popularity of Telegram among young South Koreans.

According to law enforcement, a total of 88 deepfake sex crime reports were made last week between Monday and Thursday alone.

Twenty-four individuals have been identified as suspects so far. As part of the investigation, the police are also looking into eight automated programs creating deepfake pornography for Telegram, as well as group chat rooms circulating such content.

"As France has done, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency launched an internal investigation into the corporate entity of Telegram before officially booking it," Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Office of Investigation, was quoted as saying.

Woo said the investigation could be challenging as “Telegram does not readily provide investigation data, such as account information, to us or other state investigative bodies, including those in the US.”

He said the police in South Korea plan to collaborate with the French authorities and international institutions to find methods for investigating Telegram.

Global scrutiny

The probe in South Korea follows the arrest last month in France of Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of the encrypted messaging service.

Russian-born Durov is under formal investigation by the French authorities over charges that he is responsible for allowing rampant criminal activity to take place on the app.

He was released on €5 million ($5.53 million) bail last week, under the condition that he reports to the police twice a week and does not leave the country.

Prominent figures like Elon Musk, the owner of X, protested Durov’s arrest, claiming it was an act of censorship that threatens free speech. However, French prosecutors say there are grounds to formally investigate Durov on all charges for which he was arrested.

These include suspected complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking, and fraud, as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering, and providing cryptographic services to criminals.

Telegram is under increased scrutiny in other countries as well following Durov’s arrest. Denmark’s justice minister said last week that he would “very much like” to ban encrypted chats such as Telegram and Signal over gang-related crimes.

In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for “tough sanctions” against Telegram after extremists used the platform to spread hatred against Muslims and organize anti-immigrant riots early in August. However, no action has been taken so far.