Police probe Telegram chat room sharing explicit photos of Inha University students

Police have launched an investigation into a Telegram chat room that created and distributed sexually explicit photos of female students at Inha University.

The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency in Namdong District, Incheon [YONHAP]

Police have launched an investigation into a Telegram chat room that created and distributed sexually explicit photos of female students at Inha University.

The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit said Monday that it is trying to track down the person who operated the Telegram chat room for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.

Telegram is a combined content distribution platform and messaging app that provides end-to-end encryption of messages.

The chat room, active since 2020 with around 1,200 participants, was used to share sexually explicit images featuring digitally altered faces of female students. Participants also shared personal information of victims, such as phone numbers and addresses.

The police have identified four victims whose photos were shared in the chat room, some of whom are students from Inha University.

Faces of 20 Inha University students, all from the same student club, have reportedly also been used for the deepfake photos, and the police are looking into whether there are more victims.

Although the person operating the chat room has not been caught, the police said they arrested and referred a 30-year-old man, who was part of the chat room, to prosecution in March for downloading and redistributing the deepfake photos. However, the 30-year-old is not related to Inha University in any way.

The police have also identified two other chat room participants and are continuing the investigation.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]