Tens of Thousands of Celebrity Deepfakes and Child Sexual Exploitation Materials... Teens Selling and Teens Buying

63 People Purchased Illegal Child Sexual Exploitation Material
30% of Them Are Juveniles Exempt from Criminal Punishment

Three teenagers were arrested by the police for selling illegal deepfake composites of famous celebrities and child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials through overseas social networking services (SNS).

On the 4th, the Women and Youth Investigation Division of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they had applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. A and sent Mr. B to detention on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (editing and distribution of false videos) and the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth from Sexual Abuse (sale of sexual exploitation materials for profit). Mr. C was booked without detention.

Mr. A, a high school graduate, is accused of selling 1,230 deepfake sexual exploitation materials combining the faces of famous celebrities or creators and over 44,000 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials to 15 people through an overseas community application for about a month starting in April this year, receiving 270,000 KRW. It was revealed that Mr. A bought illegal deepfake composites or sexual exploitation materials on SNS and resold them.

Mr. B, also a high school graduate, is accused of selling 54,609 child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials to about 100 people through an overseas community app from December last year to April this year, earning 2.2 million KRW. Mr. C, a high school student, sold child and adolescent sexual exploitation materials to 10 people on overseas SNS for two months starting in March this year, illegally profiting 950,000 KRW.

Mr. B and Mr. C told the police that they received sexual exploitation materials from acquaintances and others. They posted advertising hashtags and links for deepfake materials on SNS to lure clicks, then sold folders containing multiple sexual exploitation materials for 5,000 to 30,000 KRW each via bank transfer.

The police arrested 63 people who purchased illegal child sexual exploitation materials from them. Among these, 20-30% were juvenile offenders aged 10 to under 14, who are difficult to prosecute, and the rest were mostly mid-teens to early twenties. However, those who only purchased deepfake sexual exploitation materials cannot be punished under current laws, which only penalize the production and distribution of deepfakes.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, having formed a dedicated investigation team and established a 24-hour rapid response system, stated that they will promptly investigate and strongly respond as soon as cases of deepfake sexual exploitation material damage are confirmed.

Meanwhile, both suspects and victims of deepfake sexual crimes were found to be concentrated in their teens. According to the National Police Agency, among the 178 suspects booked for crimes related to false videos from January to July this year, 131 (73.6%) were teenagers, the highest proportion. This was followed by people in their 20s (36 suspects, 20.2%), 30s (10 suspects, 5.6%), and one person in their 40s (0.6%). There were no suspects aged 50 or older. Additionally, as of last year, teenage victims of false video crimes numbered 181, accounting for 62.0% of all victims.