Schools do little to help victims of deepfake sex crimes, parents of victims say

Victims of deepfake pornography had to attend school with their perpetrators while school authorities did little to investigate their cases, the families of victims said in an interview Tuesday.

Participants hold up signs during a rally against deepfake pornography held near Bosingak Bell Pavilion in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Friday. [NEWS1]

Victims of deepfake pornography had to attend school with their perpetrators while school authorities did little to investigate their cases, the families of victims said in an interview Tuesday.

“The perpetrator who had synthesized my daughter’s face onto naked bodies using deepfake technology was a schoolmate from the next class who knew her through social media,” said the parent of a victim during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily. “We reported the case to the school violence committee, but we were left to our own devices in proving what had happened.”

Ultimately, the school violence committee simply transferred the perpetrator to another school after two months.

The Ministry of Education announced Monday that educational authorities received 434 reports of victimization through deepfake pornography from January this year to Sept. 6, with a total of 617 victims.

The number was about double the cases announced during the ministry's first investigation last month. There are more victims than the number of cases because there were multiple victims per report.

“Since the police investigation began, the perpetrator has not apologized even once,” said the parent of a victim.

The parent said that the family learned of the crime because the perpetrator was already being investigated for synthesizing celebrities’ photos to make deepfake pornography, and the police contacted the family to identify further victims.

“When we told our daughter who the perpetrator was, she said they were only friends through social media,” said the parent. “She said he had been asking constantly to be ‘friends’ on social media.”

The victim’s family then immediately reported the case to the school violence committee but received a lukewarm response. The committee said appropriately punishing the perpetrator would prove difficult and that the perpetrator was unlikely to apologize.

“Deepfake crimes are not face-to-face violence, so the punishment is actually very light,” said lawyer Jeon Soo-min, who has experience with many school violence lawsuits. “Since violence perpetrated through social media often involves different schools and classes for the victim and the perpetrator, there is a tendency to think that high-level disciplinary measures such as suspension aren't necessary.”

The parent of a victim who was interviewed by the JoongAng Ilbo said the most challenging part was proving the victimization.

“We received no help from the school or the police,” said the parent. “It was tough having to send my daughter to school knowing that the perpetrator was also at the same school. The school did not even make an effort to separate my daughter from the perpetrator because they were in different classes. After the school violence committee was convened, the school authorities said something like, ‘You could leave school early if it is hard for you.’”

To tackle the lack of official support systems for victims, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Tuesday that it will establish a cooperative support system with the prosecution, police and education office to respond to deepfake digital sex crimes involving students.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon signed a memorandum of understanding with the heads of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, promising to eradicate such crimes.

Hotlines will be set up in schools across Seoul to report deepfake digital sex crimes, ensuring that such cases are promptly reported to a support center, according to the city government. Teachers and school police officers can file cases directly at the digital sex crime support center, which is run by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family. The center will assist in quickly removing reported photos and videos.

Consultants from the center will also visit schools or other requested locations if students feel uncomfortable visiting the center themselves. Additionally, the center will provide up to 10 counseling sessions for victims needing psychological support.

The police and prosecution will establish a direct communication channel to share information on deepfake crimes efficiently. Starting in 2025, the city’s digital sex crime support center will receive all exploitative content through the system and delete it in bulk rather than receiving it directly from the prosecution and police.

The city government has also implemented AI technology that automatically identifies and promptly removes sexually exploitative material involving children since last month.

Given the prevalence of such crimes among students, the city will launch prevention campaigns at around 1,300 schools and youth facilities across the capital.

BY CHOI MIN-JI, SEO JI-WON, LIM JEONG-WON, CHO JUNG-WOO [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]