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Low reported severity Internal Action

South Korea: deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts target a Korean streamer after a PUBG tournament stream-sniping dispute; publisher Krafton promises takedown requests and legal support

At the PUBG Asia Stars 2026 tournament, which opened on 17 September 2026, two players on the Vietnam team were found to have used other participants' live broadcasts or outside information during play, including to locate a Korean streamer in game. Hansbiz reports that the streamer was then targeted with deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts, and Newspost reports that members of the Vietnamese gamer community spread deepfake videos made from Korean team streamers' photos. On 23 September 2026 the publisher Krafton apologised to the streamer and said it would request deletion and blocking of false claims, mockery and illegal composite posts and would cooperate with legal action; Hansbiz reports the promised support as covering criminal complaint proceedings. No complaint filing or police action is reported in the sources read.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
Sept 2026
Reported
23 September 2026
Event location
Unknown
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Work · Privacy
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts
5 claims: 5 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
At least 1 person

AI system as recorded: Unnamed deepfake tool (Hansbiz describes deepfake composites aimed at the streamer; Newspost describes deepfake videos made with Korean team streamer photos; Krafton's statement, as relayed, calls them illegal composite posts)

What Happened

PUBG Asia Stars 2026, a national and regional event run by Krafton, opened on 17 September 2026 with professional players and streamers from six Asian regions (Hansbiz). On the first day two players on the Vietnam team were found to have watched other participants' broadcasts to locate a Korean streamer, a practice known as stream sniping; the Korean team boycotted the second day and the event was cancelled after day two (Hansbiz). Krafton apologised on 21 September for six operational failures and on 23 September announced permanent account bans and permanent bans from official esports competitions for the two players (Hansbiz; DigitalToday). In a separate notice the same day, Krafton apologised to the Korean streamer, saying that participant protection had been insufficient and that criticism and attacks followed, and said it would request deletion and blocking of false claims, mockery and illegal composite posts aimed at the streamer and cooperate with legal action with the streamer's agency (DigitalToday; Inven). Hansbiz (24 September) characterises the material as deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts and the promised support as for criminal complaint proceedings. Newspost (2 October) reports that, after the penalties and the suspension of Krafton's Vietnam league, parts of the Vietnamese gamer community abused Koreans and spread deepfake videos made with Korean team streamers' photos. Hansbiz reports that the streamer was considering ending a partnership, in a passage about streamers turning away from PUBG content. The content of the deepfakes is not described here.

Reported harm

Hansbiz reports deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts targeting a Korean streamer after a tournament dispute; Krafton said it would request deletion and blocking of illegal composite posts and cooperate with legal action (Hansbiz; DigitalToday; Inven).

Outcome

Ongoing

Krafton apologised to the streamer on 23 September 2026 and said it would request deletion and blocking of false claims, mockery and illegal composite posts targeting the streamer and would cooperate with legal action in consultation with the streamer's agency (DigitalToday; Inven). Hansbiz describes the support as full support for criminal complaint proceedings. Newspost (2 October 2026) reports that the streamer has returned to broadcasting, with the streaming platform SOOP helping moderate chat. No complaint filing, police investigation or identified poster is reported.

What remains unknown

  • What the composites and videos showed beyond the outlets' descriptions, and with what tool they were made.
  • Who made and posted them, and on which platforms.
  • Whether a criminal complaint was filed and any police response.
  • Whether other Korean team streamers were depicted in the videos Newspost describes.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Hansbiz calls the material deepfake composites and Newspost reports deepfake videos made from Korean team streamers' photos. Krafton's statement, as relayed by DigitalToday and Inven, says illegal composite posts. No tool is named and no forensic analysis is reported.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported On the first day of PUBG Asia Stars 2026, which opened on 17 September 2026, two players on the Vietnam team were found to have used other participants' broadcasts to locate a Korean streamer in the game.

Causal attribution. Context for the harassment; no AI is involved in this step.

  • hansbiz.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '논란은 지난 17일 개막한 국가·지역 대항전 ‘PUBG 아시아 스타즈 2026’ 첫날 경기에서 시작됐다.'; '상대방 방송을 시청하며 플레이하는 이른바 ‘방플(스트림 스나이핑)’ 정황이 포착되면서 벌어졌다.'
  • newspost.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '사태는 1일차 경기에서 베트남 선수 2인이 운영정책 위반 행위를 저지르면서 비롯됐다.'
Reported The Korean streamer was targeted with posts that Hansbiz describes as deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts; Krafton's statement, as relayed by DigitalToday, refers to false claims, mockery and illegal composite posts aimed at the streamer.

Causal attribution. Hansbiz uses the word deepfake; the DigitalToday and Inven relays of Krafton's notice say illegal composite posts. The notice itself was not read. The makers are not identified.

  • hansbiz.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '딥페이크 합성물 및 성희롱 악성 게시물에 대한 삭제 요청, 형사 고소 절차 전폭 지원을 약속했다.'
  • digitaltoday.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '허위사실 유포와 조롱, 불법 합성 게시물에 대한 삭제·차단 요청과 법적 대응 협조에 나서기로 했다.'
Reported After the players' penalties and the suspension of Krafton's Vietnam league, parts of the Vietnamese gamer community abused Koreans and spread deepfake videos made from Korean team streamers' photos.

Causal attribution. Newspost's own reporting; it does not name the streamers depicted or the posters.

  • newspost.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '한국인을 욕하거나, 한국팀 스트리머 사진을 활용해 딥페이크 영상을 유포하는 행위로도 이어졌다.'
Reported On 23 September 2026 Krafton apologised to the streamer, said participant protection had been insufficient, and said it would request deletion and blocking of the posts and cooperate with legal action in consultation with the streamer's agency.

Causal attribution. Publisher statement relayed by several outlets; no complaint filing is reported.

  • digitaltoday.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '회사는 미흡한 운영과 대응으로 참가자 보호가 충분히 이뤄지지 못했고 이후 비난과 공격이 이어졌다며'; '23일 크래프톤은 배틀그라운드 공식 카페를 통해'; '크래프톤은 같은 날 별도 공지를 통해'; '진심으로 사과드린다'; '소속사와 협의해 법적 대응에도 최대한 협조하고'
  • inven.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '허위 사실 유포와 조롱, 불법 합성 게시물의 삭제·차단을 요청하고'
Reported The streamer was reported to be considering ending a partnership and later returned to broadcasting, with the platform SOOP helping manage chat.

Causal attribution. Hansbiz does not say which partnership; the passage concerns streamers turning away from PUBG content. Neither source attributes the decision to the deepfakes alone.

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live in Korean on 2026-10-04 (Hansbiz, 24 September 2026). Its account of Krafton's promises derives from Krafton's statements, so it shares their group; the DigitalToday and Inven relays of Krafton's notice do not use the word deepfake, and the notice itself was not read. Researcher translation. Applies to s1.

Read live in Korean on 2026-10-04 (DigitalToday, 23 September 2026); relays Krafton's notice to the streamer. Researcher translation. Applies to s2.

Read live in Korean on 2026-10-04 (Inven, 23 September 2026); relays the same Krafton notice. Researcher translation. Applies to s3.

Read live in Korean on 2026-10-04 (Newspost, 2 October 2026, byline Kim Yun-jin); the outlet's own account of the aftermath. Researcher translation. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: South Korea. Court countries: Unknown.

Hansbiz describes the targeted person as a Korean streamer on the Korean team. Newspost attributes the deepfake videos to parts of the Vietnamese gamer community but does not say where they were made or posted, so no event country is recorded. No court or police authority is named.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-04: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (synthetic media depicting a real person, used for harassment). The account rests on Krafton's public statement as relayed by Korean outlets and on Newspost's separate reporting. The streamer is not named here and the content of the posts is not described.

People described

A South Korean streamer who played on the Korean team at the PUBG Asia Stars 2026 tournament

People reported harmed in this case

At least 1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One Korean streamer is named by Krafton as the target of the composite posts (DigitalToday; Inven; Hansbiz). Newspost's phrase about Korean team streamers' photos does not state how many streamers were depicted, so the count is a documented minimum of 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#deepfakes#pubg#krafton#esports#streamer#harassment#south-korea#vietnam

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). South Korea: deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts target a Korean streamer after a PUBG tournament stream-sniping dispute; publisher Krafton promises takedown requests and legal support. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-pubg-asia-stars-korean-streamer-deepfake-composites-krafton-legal-support

BibTeX

@misc{2026_pubg_asia_stars_korean_streamer_deepfake_composites_krafton_legal_support,
  title = {South Korea: deepfake composites and sexual-harassment posts target a Korean streamer after a PUBG tournament stream-sniping dispute; publisher Krafton promises takedown requests and legal support},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-pubg-asia-stars-korean-streamer-deepfake-composites-krafton-legal-support}
}

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