Police have launched a preliminary investigation into the instant messaging service platform Telegram on suspicions of abetting deepfake sex crimes, the chief police investigator said Monday.

The move comes as South Korea scrambles to combat deepfake pornography targeting young women, including teenagers, which has been circulated online.

“As France has done, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency launched an internal investigation into the corporate entity of Telegram before officially booking it,” said Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Office of Investigation.

“The charges are about abetting this crime,” he said, referring to deepfake videos.

Last month, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was arrested in France as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged failures to prevent criminal uses of his platform.

Woo acknowledged potential challenges in the investigation, saying, “Telegram does not readily provide investigation data, such as account information, to us or other state investigative bod
ies, including those in the U.S.”

The police plan to collaborate with French investigative authorities and international institutions to find methods for investigating Telegram, Woo noted.

It marks the first investigation into Telegram’s corporate entity by the South Korean police.

According to police, a total of 88 deepfake sex crime reports were filed between last Monday and Thursday, and 24 individuals have been identified as suspects so far.

As part of the ongoing investigation, eight automated programs creating deepfake pornography for Telegram are under scrutiny, along with group chat rooms responsible for circulating such content.

Source: Yonhap News Agency