Cabinet approves bill revision to punish possessing, watching deepfake porn

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks at a Cabinet meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the revision of a bill to punish both the possession and viewing of deepfake pornography.

The revision of Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes calls for punishing individuals who are caught possessing, purchasing, storing or viewing sexually explicit deepfake content with up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,200). The law has recently faced criticism following a recent chain of deepfake pornography crimes for failing to punish those who download or watch sexually explicit deepfakes.

Additionally, this revised bill will also punish the production and distribution of pornographic materials generated through deepfake technology by up to seven years in prison. Currently, the law punishes such acts by only up to five years in prison.

In the case of deepfake porn created for the purpose of dissemination, the penalty was also strengthened from a maximum prison term of seven years to a prison term that is now at least three years. Those who use sexually exploitative deepfake material for blackmail will also face a minimum one-year prison term.

Other than the revision bill for the sexual violence punishment act, the Cabinet also passed a revision bill for the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act, which specifies the government’s responsibility to delete illegally filmed materials and to help victims recover from the trauma and return to normal lives.

Revisions were additionally made to the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse, known as the juvenile protection act, to strengthen police investigations into sexually exploitative material targeting minors as well as the punishment of perpetrators.

The three revision bills are to be implemented immediately following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval.

At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated that the government “will conduct an intensive crackdown on deepfake sex crimes” until the end of March 2025.

“The government is currently prioritizing urgent matters, such as investigating the status of damage (due to deepfake pornography) in schools and establishing a communication hotline with Telegram,” said Han. The government has looked to establish such a hotline with Telegram to communicate with the messaging service and react faster to incidents involving sexually exploitative deepfakes since Aug. 27.

Han added that the government is taking additional measures, such as “establishing a pangovernmental task force centered on the Office for Government Policy Coordination” to strengthen punishment of perpetrators and victim support while also increasing accountability for online platforms for the spread of deepfake pornography content.

“One of the biggest challenges in dealing with deepfake sex crimes is that many of the perpetrators are minors in their teens who lack the awareness that producing and distributing such fake sex videos is a serious crime,” said Han.

“Therefore, it is crucial for relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, to actively engage in educating and spreading awareness to students, their parents and the general public that such acts are indeed a serious crime.”

Meanwhile, the Korean National Police Agency said 812 cases of deepfake sex crimes had been reported to police nationwide as of Sept. 26. Of 387 suspects who have been arrested, 324 are minors -- accounting for 83.7 percent.

By Lee Jung-joo(lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com)