South Korea battles surge of deepfake pornography after thousands found to be spreading images

One Telegram channel had 220,000 members creating and sharing doctored images and videos, with the president saying many of the victims and perpetrators are minors

South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has ordered a crackdown on an epidemic of digital sex crimes targeting women and girls who become the unwitting victims of deepfake pornography.

Yoon’s criticism of the use, recently reported in South Korean media, of the Telegrammessaging app to create and share fake, sexually explicit images and videos came amid warnings that all women were potential victims.