Gov't claims aside, students receive slaps on wrist for deepfake porn

Only two students were expelled from their schools for producing and distributing illegal deepfake pornography between 2022 and this August, according to local education offices.

An illustrate image created by ChatGPT, which shows several people using Telegram services [JOONGANG ILBO]

Only two students were expelled from their schools for producing and distributing illegal deepfake pornography between 2022 and this August, according to local education offices.

The two expulsions accounted for just three percent of the 629 deepfake cases handled nationwide by school violence review committees. Expulsion is the most severe punishment students can receive.

Most offenders received slaps of the wrist, according to data submitted by 17 education offices nationwide to Democratic Party Rep. Moon Jeong-bog on Sunday.

In 347 cases, offenders ultimately received penalties that left no blemish on their academic records. Heavier penalties — such as classroom changes, forced school transfers and expulsions — were meted out in 99 cases, or 15.7 percent.

Gyeonggi had the highest number of cases among provinces and municipalities, handing out 181 punishments. Of them, only 21 cases were subjected to heavy penalties.

In Seoul, heavy penalties were handed down in only eight of 89 cases.

Attorney Jeon Su-min said that deepfake crimes usually lead to light punishments as “non-face-to-face violence.”

Jeon added that school violence reviewers “tend to consider strong punishments such as switching classrooms unnecessary because offenders and victims often belong to different classrooms in many cases.”

The attorney’s remarks contradict the Education Ministry’s claim on Saturday that “deepfake crimes resulted in severe punishments because they are extremely deliberate and very likely to inflict harm on victims.”

According to the Ministry of Education, the accumulated number of victims involved in deepfake crimes totaled 833, which include 799 students, 31 schoolteachers and three school employees.

Deepfake crimes targeting schoolteachers are also on the rise.

Although another committee designed to protect teachers' rights saw no reports of deepfake crimes in 2022, it received eight reports last year and 20 reports this year.

Twelve schoolteachers were found to be victims of deepfake crimes last year, and the figure rose to 21 this year. Student offenders increased from 10 to 36 in the same period.

The reviewed cases mainly involved synthesized images of classmates and schoolteachers without consent.

Typical examples included one case where a student produced deepfake content using profile pictures from their teacher's private social media account and another where a student created images of their teacher and classmate kissing.

Students distributed the illicit content to acquaintances through group chatrooms and even to random people on Telegram. In one case, a student relied on an anonymous messaging app to circulate the deepfake content among the victim's friends.

Some students exploited third parties and social media to circulate malicious deepfake content.

Of 17 education offices nationwide, four reported cases where the offenders sent personal details of the victim and synthesized photos to operators of so-called “acquaintance humiliation rooms” — where offenders share deepfake content using messenger services.

Rep. Moon said deepfake crimes "seriously threaten the safety and violate the privacy of underage students and school faculty members” and called for more robust prevention measures and heavier punishments.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, CHOI MIN-JI [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]