[Exclusive] Despite Experiencing the 'N번방' Case, 방심위 Failed to Seek Cooperation from Telegram for 2 Years... "Will Ask Again" Amid Deepfake Crisis

N Room Incident Late 2019 Media Coverage
Broadcasting Commission Expressed Willingness to Cooperate with Telegram 2 Years Later
Even That Was Not Responded to, Not Including the Target at the Time

At the end of 2019, during the 'Nth Room incident,' 'Telegram' was used as a channel for distributing sexually exploitative videos. However, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), which supports victims, only attempted to include Telegram as a cooperation target for corrective requests two years later. Being a cooperation target means that the platform is willing to cooperate when requests for corrective actions such as video deletion are made, but the KCSC did not even inquire about Telegram's willingness to cooperate for two years after the incident occurred. The KCSC's belated request ended in futility due to Telegram's lack of response.

According to a response received by Lee Hae-min, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the Justice Party, from the KCSC on the 23rd, it was confirmed that the KCSC asked Telegram about its willingness to cooperate on corrective requests in October 2022, two years after the Nth Room incident occurred at the end of 2019.

Corrective requests refer to the KCSC demanding the deletion of original content or similar actions from the platform. While platforms are not obligated to comply, it can be interpreted as an expression of willingness to actively cooperate with government requests.

The list of overseas platforms targeted for cooperation on corrective requests increased from five platforms in January 2020?Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X?to a total of eleven after October 2022, with six additional platforms: TikTok, Tumblr, Pinterest, Medium, Wix, and Wattpad. The average compliance rate for corrective requests among these platforms over the past five years is relatively high at 88.46%. Being included as a target alone can significantly reduce the spread of crimes.

The KCSC's attempt to include Telegram as a cooperation target for corrective requests came after the launch of the International Cooperation Division in 2022. The establishment of this official organization aimed to strengthen cooperation with overseas platforms. The number of digital sex crime information corrective requests made by the KCSC to Telegram surged from 28 cases in 2021 to 59 in 2022, and 161 in 2023, with 78 cases recorded up to July this year. However, the proportion of original content actually deleted among these cases has not been confirmed.

Following the Nth Room incident, Telegram again drew attention this year as a channel for distributing deepfake sexual crime videos, prompting the KCSC to announce plans to re-include Telegram as a cooperation target for corrective requests. However, the fact that communication with Telegram is via email rather than a direct phone line poses a limitation. There is no means to respond if Telegram does not reply.

For this reason, there are calls for a systematic system such as managing the results of corrective request compliance and establishing a hotline that allows direct telephone communication. Currently, even if included as a cooperation target for corrective requests, the responses from service providers regarding compliance results are inconsistent, and the KCSC monitors them directly. It is understood that five platforms?Tumblr, Pinterest, Medium, Wix, and Wattpad?communicate via email.

A KCSC official explained, "Apart from corrective requests, we have been asking service providers such as Telegram to voluntarily regulate so that digital sex crime information can be proactively deleted before review." After the Nth Room incident, in February 2020, the KCSC requested voluntary regulation (deletion of illegal content before communication review) for 133 group chats on Telegram, and Telegram deleted 87 (63.5%) of these chats. The KCSC blocked access to the chats that were not deleted through an emergency meeting at that time.

Assembly member Lee Hae-min said, "After the Nth Room incident, it took our government five years just to find Telegram's email address, and communication is still done via email. Since it is important to quickly delete and block digital sex crime videos, we must actively respond by establishing a telephone hotline and expanding the designation of domestic agents."