{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T14:47:32.946Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "deepfake", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "", "evidence": "", "year": "2024", "response": "minors", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 3, "coverage": { "cases": 3, "countries": 2, "languages": 2, "unknownLocation": 0, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 0, "unknownDate": 0, "lawsuits": 0, "regulatory": 1, "minors": 3, "coreRelations": 3, "contextualRelations": 0, "mixedRelations": 0, "unknownRelations": 0, "relationPending": 0, "relationUnknown": 0 }, "countingNote": "Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.", "affectedCountNote": "Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.", "source": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2024-incheon-teacher-deepfake-student-sentence", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'인천지법 형사1단독(부장판사 이창경)은 16일 선고공판에서... A(10대)군에게 장기 2년, 단기 1년6개월의 징역형을 선고했다'; '40시간의 성폭력 치료 프로그램 이수와 아동·청소년 관련 기관 취업제한 5년'; '도주 우려 등을 이유로 A군을 법정구속했다'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'장기 2년∼단기 1년6개월의 징역형을 선고하고 법정 구속했다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "'장기 2년, 단기 1년6개월의 징역형을 선고하고 법정 구속했다. 소년법상 만 19세 미만 미성년자에게는... 부정기형이 내려진다.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "On 16 September 2026 the Incheon District Court (Criminal Division 1, Judge 이창경) sentenced the teenage defendant to an indeterminate term of 2 years maximum / 1 year 6 months minimum for violating the Sexual Violence Punishment Act (editing and distributing false sexual images), ordered 40 hours of treatment and a five-year child-institution employment ban, and detained him in court.", "causal_attribution": "Sentence reported identically by three outlets from the sentencing hearing." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'2024년 8월 인공지능을 이용해 교사 5명의 얼굴을 나체사진에 합성한 뒤 사회관계망서비스(SNS)에 유포한 혐의'; '모두 11명의 허위영상물을 35차례 제작'; ''지인 능욕'을 테마로 한 텔레그램 대화방'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "'2024년 8월 인공지능(AI) 기술을 이용해 교사와 학생들의 얼굴을 나체 사진에 합성한 혐의'; '교사 5명과 함께 태권도 학원에 다닌 여중생 등 총 11명을 대상으로 35차례에 걸쳐 합성물을 제작, 텔레그램 '지인 능욕' 대화방 등에 유포'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "'2024년 인천의 한 중학교에 재학하던 중 딥페이크 기술을 이용해 교사 등 20여명의 얼굴을 나체 사진과 영상에 합성한 뒤 SNS에 유포한 혐의' (the prosecution's figure of about twenty).", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "In 2024, while a middle-school student in Incheon, he used AI deepfake technology to composite the faces of five teachers and six female middle- and high-school students from his taekwondo academy onto nude photographs and videos, 35 productions of 11 people in all, and distributed them in Telegram 'acquaintance humiliation' chat rooms.", "causal_attribution": "Court findings as reported; the 11-in-35 count is Hankyoreh's and Munhwa's, and Newsis's 'about twenty' is the prosecution's charge description." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'자신의 담임교사에게 \"연락처와 사진이 지워졌다\"고 속여 사진을 받아내는 등 치밀하게 범행을 준비한 것으로 조사됐다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "He obtained his homeroom teacher's photographs by telling her that his contacts and photos had been deleted.", "causal_attribution": "Investigation finding reported by Munhwa Ilbo only." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Judge: '반포한 교사 5명의 합성 사진과 영상물에는 피해자의 얼굴이 그대로 드러나 있고 실명, 나이, 학교, 교과목도 명시돼 있다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Judge: '피해 교사들의 얼굴뿐 아니라 실명, 학교, 휴대전화 번호까지 명시해 반포했다'; '피해자들이 장기간 심리치료를 받는 등 상당한 트라우마를 겪고 있는 점'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "Judge: '피해교사들은 말할 수 없는 충격을 받고 트라우마를 겪고 있으며 A군의 엄벌 탄원하고 있다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The distributed images showed the teachers' faces together with their real names, ages, schools, subjects and phone numbers, and the court found the teachers are suffering considerable trauma and receiving long-term psychological treatment.", "causal_attribution": "The judge's sentencing remarks as reported by three outlets; phone numbers appear only in Munhwa's account." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'A군은 지역교권보호위원회가 열리기 일주일 전 자퇴해 학교 차원의 별다른 징계 처분은 받지 않았다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'피해 교사들은 올해 1월에야 피해 사실을 인지했으나, A 군은 교권보호위원회가 열리기 전 자퇴해 학교 측의 징계를 피했다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "'ㄱ군은 교권보호위원회가 열리기 전 자퇴해 징계 처분을 받지 않았다'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "He withdrew from school a week before the regional teachers'-rights protection committee met and received no school discipline; the teachers learned of the images only in January 2026.", "causal_attribution": "The withdrawal is reported by all three; the January 2026 discovery by Munhwa only." }, { "id": "c6", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'검찰이 구형한 부정기형 장기 3년6개월∼단기 2년은... 그러나 이날 선고는 검찰 구형에도 미치지 못했다'; the superintendent's pledge.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "'인천교사노동조합은 입장문을 내고... 이번 선고에 깊은 유감을 표한다'; the superintendent: '법적·심리 치료 지원과 함께... 예방교육도 강화하겠다'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The Incheon Teachers' Union expressed regret that the sentence fell below the prosecution's request of 3 years 6 months to 2 years; the superintendent of education attended and pledged legal and psychological support and prevention education.", "causal_attribution": "Statements reported by two outlets." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "teachers and students depicted in AI-composited sexual images distributed with their names, schools and phone numbers; long-term trauma treatment", "claim_id": "c2", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260916_0003791674", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "ko", "translation_note": "Read in Korean on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-16T10:51+09:00; Incheon bureau reporter 이루비; '종합' consolidated report). Model reading; no human bilingual review.", "independence_group": "newsis" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/area/capital/1278039.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "ko", "translation_note": "Read in Korean on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-16T11:00+09:00). Model reading; no human bilingual review.", "independence_group": "hani" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.munhwa.com/article/11617393", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "ko", "translation_note": "Read in Korean on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-16T10:51+09:00). Model reading; no human bilingual review.", "independence_group": "munhwa" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "privacy", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The AI tool used is not named; the written judgment was not inspected.", "The number of people depicted differs between the prosecution's charge description (about twenty, per Newsis) and the court reporting (eleven); eleven is used as the documented minimum.", "When the distribution began and ended within 2024 and whether the additional indicted conduct extended later are not stated; the record uses August 2024 with month precision and no end date.", "Whether either side appeals, and the outcome of any separate proceedings against the Telegram room operators, are not reported.", "Earlier coverage of the arrest or indictment was not inspected; the reported_date is the sentencing coverage.", "Korean bodies were read by the model without human bilingual review." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: an Incheon middle school and a taekwondo academy in Incheon (Newsis: '인천의 한 중학교'); victims are Incheon teachers and students; court: Incheon District Court.", "court_countries": [ "KR" ], "event_countries": [ "KR" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "KR" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case with a criminal judgment: a court found that AI deepfake images of five teachers and six students were made and distributed with identifying details, and described the victims' ongoing trauma. Three separately bylined Korean outlets were read. The defendant is a minor and unnamed in the sources and here; no victim is named; the superintendent, union chair and judge are public officials.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-16" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Three outlets report the court's findings that the images were made with AI deepfake (image-compositing) technology and the conviction under the false-sexual-image provisions; the specific tool is not named. The Korean bodies were read by the model; no written judgment was inspected.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "Incheon, South Korea: teenager sentenced to up to two years for AI deepfake sexual images of five teachers and six students, distributed on Telegram with the victims' names and schools", "summary": "On 16 September 2026 the Incheon District Court sentenced a teenage defendant to an indeterminate term of two years (maximum) to one year six months (minimum) under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act for making and distributing false sexual images, ordered a 40-hour treatment programme and a five-year ban on working with children, and took him into custody in court. As a middle-school student in Incheon in 2024 he had used AI deepfake technology to composite the faces of five teachers, including his homeroom teacher whom he tricked into sending photographs, and six female middle- and high-school students from his taekwondo academy onto nude images and videos, 35 productions in all, and distributed them in Telegram 'acquaintance humiliation' chat rooms with the victims' real names, ages, schools, subjects and, per one report, phone numbers. The teachers learned of the images only in January 2026; the court said they are receiving long-term psychological treatment. He had withdrawn from school a week before the teachers'-rights committee met, avoiding school discipline. The Incheon teachers' union called the sentence, below the prosecution's request, regrettable.", "incidentDate": "2024-08-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "unknown", "reportedDate": "2026-09-16", "aiSystem": "AI deepfake image-compositing tools (not named in the inspected court reporting)", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "exploitation_or_abuse", "psychological_distress", "reputational_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Five teachers and six students had their faces composited by AI onto nude images and videos that were distributed on Telegram with their real names, ages, schools, subjects and phone numbers; the court found the teachers are suffering considerable trauma and receiving long-term psychological treatment.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "established", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 11, "affectedCountStatus": "documented_minimum", "affectedCountEvidence": "Hankyoreh and Munhwa Ilbo both report 11 people (five teachers and six students) in 35 composites, as found by the court; Newsis reports the prosecution's charge sheet as 'about twenty', which is not used as a count. Eleven is the documented minimum.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "KR", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260916_0003791674", "primarySourceLabel": "뉴시스 (Newsis), 16 September 2026, Incheon bureau: sentencing report with the judge's reasons, the superintendent's and the union's statements", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-16T03:16:35.128819+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "deepfake", "south-korea", "incheon", "teachers", "minors", "telegram", "criminal-sentence", "depicted-or-impersonated" ] }, { "id": "2025-valencia-spain-deepfake-school", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'began investigating in December last year after a female student reported the creation of a social media account in her name that featured an AI-generated video'; '\"All these photos had been modified from the originals, which had been manipulated so that the people in them appeared completely naked\"'; 'a webpage devoted to advertising the images for commercial purposes'; 'After 15 other minors came forward with similar complaints'; 'a 17-year-old boy was being investigated on suspicion of corrupting minors'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "From December 2024 a girl in the Ribera Alta area reported fake accounts in her name with an AI-generated video and AI-manipulated nude photos of minors, plus a webpage advertising the images commercially; 15 other minors complained; the Guardia Civil traced the accounts to a 17-year-old schoolmate, now investigated for corrupting minors under a Valencia youth court.", "causal_attribution": "Guardia Civil statement as reported by the Guardian; single chain." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "16 minors depicted in AI-generated nude images and videos on fake accounts, one impersonated by name, images advertised for sale", "claim_id": "c1", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/27/spanish-teenager-investigated-ai-generated-nude-videos", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-18 (The Guardian, 27 July 2025). Reports and quotes the Guardia Civil's statement of 27 July 2025; the Spanish original of the statement was not read.", "independence_group": "guardian" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "privacy", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "The outcome of the youth-court proceeding is not known.", "The AI tools and the platforms hosting the accounts are not named.", "Whether any images were actually sold is not stated." ], "geography": { "basis": "Guardia Civil officers in the Ribera Alta area of Valencia province investigated; the victims are the suspect's schoolmates there; a youth court in Valencia oversees the case (Guardian).", "court_countries": [ "ES" ], "event_countries": [ "ES" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "ES" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case involving identified (unnamed) depicted minors, an impersonation and a police investigation under a youth court. One chain read; claims recorded as reported. Original ID and first-publication timestamp preserved; incident date corrected to the first complaint.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-18" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The Guardia Civil statement, as quoted by the Guardian, describes AI-generated videos and AI-modified photos and a website advertising AI image-modification services; no forensic detail is published. The artifacts depicted the minors and impersonated one girl by name.", "status": "reported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "Ribera Alta, Valencia: a 17-year-old was investigated for making AI-generated nude images and videos of 16 schoolmates, impersonating a girl on fake accounts and advertising the images for sale", "summary": "In December 2024 a female student in the Ribera Alta area of Valencia province reported to the Guardia Civil that a social-media account had been created in her name featuring an AI-generated video, and later a second account in her name, other accounts showing AI-generated nude videos, and a webpage advertising the images for commercial purposes; the Guardia Civil said the photos, all of minors, had been manipulated so that the people in them appeared completely naked. After 15 other minors came forward with similar complaints, officers traced IP addresses and account emails to the home of a 17-year-old schoolmate, who is being investigated on suspicion of corrupting minors under a Valencia youth court. The Guardia Civil announced the investigation on 27 July 2025.", "incidentDate": "2024-12-01", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2025-07-27", "aiSystem": "AI image and video manipulation tools (not named; police examined a website advertising AI image-modification services)", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "exploitation_or_abuse", "psychological_distress", "reputational_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Sixteen minors were depicted in AI-generated nude images and videos published on fake accounts, with one girl also impersonated by name, and the images were advertised for sale; a schoolmate is under youth-court investigation.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 16, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One complainant plus 15 other minors who came forward with similar complaints (Guardian, quoting the Guardia Civil): exact count of 16 depicted minors.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "ES", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "investigation_opened", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/27/spanish-teenager-investigated-ai-generated-nude-videos", "primarySourceLabel": "The Guardian, 27 July 2025: Spanish teenager investigated over AI-generated nude videos of 16 schoolmates (Guardia Civil statement)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-03-09T05:45:25.741735+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "deepfake", "ai-generated-imagery", "minors", "school", "impersonation", "spain", "valencia", "guardia-civil", "youth-court", "depicted" ] }, { "id": "2024-south-korea-telegram-deepfake-crisis", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1a", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "BBC 3 Sep 2024 confirms Ko Narin's Hankyoreh scoop and describes the school- and university-specific rooms.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Hankyoreh English's own exposure of the military Telegram room (27 Aug 2024).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Around 26 August 2024 The Hankyoreh (Ko Narin) exposed Telegram rooms creating and sharing AI-generated sexual deepfakes of Korean women and girls, with rooms organized by school and university.", "causal_attribution": "The scoop's existence and the rooms' school/university organization are confirmed by the BBC's original reporting and Hankyoreh English's companion investigation; the original Korean article is dead-linked and retained uninspected." }, { "id": "c1b", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Room-structure passages: 'humiliation rooms'/'friend of friend rooms', entry terms, the 2,000-member school group.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "The rooms ran as 'humiliation rooms' and 'friend of friend rooms' with entry terms demanding at least four photos plus name, age and area, and one group for underage pupils at a single school had more than 2,000 members.", "causal_attribution": "Single-chain detail from the BBC's 3 Sep 2024 account; no second inspected chain describes the entry terms or the 2,000-member group." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Police-figure passages: 297 vs 180; 'The victims are often minors and the perpetrators are mostly teenagers'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Watchdog ~6,500 requests Jan-Jul (4x); 178 suspects booked, 74% aged 10-19; >half of erased deepfakes involved minors.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "Police recorded 297 deepfake cases in January-July 2024 against 180 in all of 2023; the watchdog received nearly 6,500 takedown requests in the first seven months of 2024 (four times the prior year); of 178 suspects booked, 74% were aged 10-19; more than half of erased deepfakes involved minors; victims were often minors and perpetrators mostly teenagers.", "causal_attribution": "Both outlets relay the same police and watchdog accounts; traced to one official origin, so the figures are reported rather than corroborated. Figures count cases, requests and suspects, not harmed people." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'more than 900 students, teachers and staff' (education ministry); 'of 964 deepfake-related sex crime cases reported from January to October last year, police made 23 arrests' (Seoul police statement).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "The education ministry counted more than 900 students, teachers and staff victimized between January and early November 2024; a Seoul police statement said that of 964 deepfake-related sex crime cases reported January-October 2024, 23 arrests were made.", "causal_attribution": "Single chain (CNN) relaying official figures; the education-ministry count is the record's person-count lower bound." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Reuters wire via CNN, 26 Sep 2024: possession/viewing criminalized.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s5" }, { "locator": "CNN 25 Apr 2025: Sep 2024 law — possession/viewing up to 3 years or 30M won; creation maximum raised 5 to 7 years.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "On 26 September 2024 the National Assembly criminalized possessing or viewing sexually explicit deepfakes (up to 3 years' prison or a 30 million won fine); the maximum sentence for creating deepfake pornography was raised from 5 to 7 years.", "causal_attribution": "The statute is a public record carried by two chains (Reuters wire; CNN original). The historical claim of an October 2024 amendment removing the distribution-intent requirement was not re-verified and is recorded as an unknown." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Military IDs turned into deepfake porn': servicewomen called 'military supplies'; at least 30 victims; channel active since 8 Aug with ~850 audience.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "A separate Telegram room degraded servicewomen with deepfakes made from military-intranet ID photos, implying insider involvement, with at least 30 victims across the Army, Navy and Air Force and an audience of about 850 since 8 August 2024.", "causal_attribution": "Single chain (Hankyoreh original reporting)." }, { "id": "c6", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Heejin passages (pseudonymous victim account).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "Ruma passages (pseudonymous victim account).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s6" } ], "assertion": "Individual victims described severe harm: a pseudonymous school victim 'Heejin' spoke to the BBC, and 'Ruma', targeted in 2021 at age 27, spoke to CNN.", "causal_attribution": "Pseudonymous first-person accounts carried by two outlets; the historical record's 'broke my whole belief system' quotation was not re-found in inspected sources and is dropped from the claims." }, { "id": "c7", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Korea Herald 16 Nov 2025 relaying the National Office of Investigation figures.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s7" } ], "assertion": "By November 2025 the National Office of Investigation reported 3,557 people apprehended for cybersexual violence over the preceding year, with deepfake crimes the largest category (1,553 cases) and about 62% of suspects teenagers.", "causal_attribution": "Single chain relaying official figures; apprehension figures count suspects, not victims." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "mass AI-generated sexual deepfakes of identified women and girls distributed in Telegram rooms", "claim_id": "c1a", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpdlpj9zn9go", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (3 Sep 2024; Jean Mackenzie, Seoul). Original reporting: victim 'Heejin', room structure, the 2,000-member school group, the 500+ activist-compiled school list.", "independence_group": "bbc" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4yerrg451o", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (28 Aug 2024). Yoon cabinet order; police figures attributed.", "independence_group": "bbc" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1155588.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (27 Aug 2024). Hankyoreh's own exposure of the military room.", "independence_group": "hankyoreh" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/06/nx-s1-5101891/south-korea-deepfake", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (6 Sep 2024). Watchdog and police figures attributed.", "independence_group": "npr" }, { "id": "s5", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/asia/south-korea-deepfake-bill-passed-intl-hnk", "kind": "wire_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (26 Sep 2024); bylined Reuters.", "independence_group": "reuters" }, { "id": "s6", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/asia/south-korea-deepfake-crimes-intl-hnk-dst", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (25 Apr 2025). CNN original: victim 'Ruma', education-ministry figure, Seoul police statement.", "independence_group": "cnn" }, { "id": "s7", "url": "https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10616925", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (16 Nov 2025; the historical date 2025-11-01 was wrong). National Office of Investigation figures.", "independence_group": "korea-herald" }, { "id": "s8", "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/1155800.html", "kind": "news_report", "access": "unavailable", "language": null, "translation_note": "HTTP 404 on 2026-09-15. Ko Narin's original Korean investigation (~26 Aug 2024); retained as the historical reference. BBC's 3 Sep 2024 report confirms the scoop; the body was not inspected in this review and its language is not re-asserted.", "independence_group": "hankyoreh" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "others_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "Not re-verified in inspected sources and therefore not claims of this record: the 220,000-member channel figure; 781 victims with 37% minors; Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea 332,341 supported cases; the October 2024 amendment removing the distribution-intent requirement; the Seoul National University graduates' 9-year and 3.5-year sentences; the teachers' union 200-school estimate; the 'broke my whole belief system' victim quotation.", "The specific AI tools used are not identified in the inspected reporting.", "Ko Narin's original Korean article (hani.co.kr 1155800) is HTTP 404; its contents are known only through the BBC's confirmation and the historical record.", "The ScienceDirect study cited by the historical record answered 403 and was not inspected.", "Cross-group overlap between police case counts, the education-ministry victim count and watchdog requests is unresolved." ], "geography": { "basis": "Events, victims and the responding institutions are all in South Korea (all chains). No court proceeding is verified in this review, so court_countries is [].", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "KR" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "KR" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact crisis affecting identified women and girls, predominantly minors. The person count is the education ministry's documented lower bound; case, request and membership figures are recorded but never used as person counts. Unverifiable historical claims are preserved as unknowns rather than deleted silently. No death; the death-verification rule is not engaged. Pseudonymous victims remain pseudonymous. In a 2026-09-15 second pass the original compound first claim was split: the corroborated exposure and room organization stand as c1a, and the BBC-only structure details (entry terms, 2,000-member group) stand as reported c1b. person_relations recorded in the same pass.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Every inspected chain describes AI deepfake tools as the generation mechanism and Telegram as the distribution channel; police and watchdog figures classify the cases as deepfake sex crimes. The specific tools are not individually identified beyond 'AI deepfake/nudify tools'.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "depicted_or_impersonated" ] }, "name": "South Korea Telegram AI Deepfake Sexual Abuse Crisis", "summary": "In late August 2024, journalist Ko Narin of The Hankyoreh exposed networks of Telegram rooms in South Korea where AI tools were used to turn ordinary photos of women and girls — middle and high school pupils, university students, teachers and servicewomen — into sexual deepfakes, shared with their identities in school- and university-specific 'humiliation rooms'. Police figures showed 297 deepfake cases in January-July 2024 (vs 180 in all of 2023); the education ministry counted more than 900 victimized students, teachers and staff; President Yoon ordered a crackdown; and on 26 September 2024 the National Assembly criminalized possessing or viewing sexually explicit deepfakes. Victims were often minors and perpetrators mostly teenagers.", "incidentDate": "2024-08-01", "incidentEndDate": "2024-09-26", "incidentKind": "bounded_series", "incidentDatePrecision": "range", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2024-08-26", "aiSystem": "AI deepfake generation tools (various)", "aiCompany": "Multiple (various free AI 'undressing' tools)", "severity": "critical", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [ "minor_exploitation", "third_party_harm_facilitation", "psychological_manipulation" ], "harmOutcomes": [ "psychological_distress", "reputational_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "Mass non-consensual AI sexual imagery of schoolgirls, students, teachers and servicewomen, distributed with their identities in Telegram rooms; pseudonymous victims describe severe distress, and police recorded hundreds of cases dominated by minor victims and teenage perpetrators.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 900, "affectedCountStatus": "documented_minimum", "affectedCountEvidence": "Lower bound: the South Korean education ministry's count of 'more than 900 students, teachers and staff' victimized (January-early November 2024), carried by CNN's 25 April 2025 report. This counts people reported as victims to the education authorities. Police figures (297 cases; 964 cases) count cases, not people, and are not used as person counts; the watchdog's ~6,500 figures count takedown requests, not people; the 500+ schools figure is an activist-compiled list of targets, not a victim count; channel membership numbers are not counted. Cross-group overlap is unresolved.", "victimAgeRange": "minor", "jurisdiction": "KR", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpdlpj9zn9go", "primarySourceLabel": "BBC News, Jean Mackenzie (3 Sep 2024) — 'Inside the deepfake porn crisis engulfing Korean schools' (replaces the dead Hankyoreh original)", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-01-29T09:52:18.956616+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "deepfakes", "minor", "south-korea", "telegram", "sexual-images", "school", "criminal-charges", "legislation", "mass-scale", "non-western" ] } ] }