Anger mounts over deepfake porn targeting South Korean female celebs; more than 33K sign petition

Growing calls urging the South Korean government to regulate deepfake porn have spread to Twitter, where fans are actively sharing hashtags such as ‘deepfake_strong punishment’ and ‘publicise_illegal composite’ and reporting names of online spaces or mobile apps where deepfake porn is shared and created. — Dreamstime/TNS

SEOUL: Following a heated scandal over Luda, a chatbot that ended up being unplugged amid controversies over its hypersexualisation and unfiltered comments on sexual minorities, South Korea faces another socio-technological issue on how to tackle artificial intelligence technology that targets real, living celebrities as victims of deepfake porn.

On Jan 14, an anonymous petitioner began an online petition demanding stronger punishment for websites that distribute deepfake porn involving Korean female celebrities and for people who download them, Yonhap news agency reported.