SEOUL — A series of Telegram chat rooms generating and distributing deepfake pornographic images of unsuspecting women, including minors, has sparked widespread concern and anger across the nation. These chat rooms, some with memberships exceeding 130,000, have been found to include images of middle and high school students, university students, teachers, and military personnel, raising alarms about privacy and safety.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the proliferation of these Telegram chat rooms is extensive, with many categorized by university names, signaling a targeted approach towards specific communities. Investigations revealed that over 100 chat rooms themed around individual university campuses have been identified. Searches on Telemetrio, a tool for finding Telegram groups, confirmed the existence of such channels, including one with over 3,500 members and another nearing 1,800 subscribers.

The method of operation includes perpetrators using social media platforms such as Instagram to gather photos of victims without consent, later manipulating these images to create harmful content. Reports have also surfaced about the sharing of bot programs within these groups, capable of generating deepfake videos, further complicating the digital abuse landscape.

The issue gained significant public attention following the recent arrests related to abuses targeting students and alumni of Inha University in Incheon. In response to the growing outrage, some online communities have started posting personal details of alleged perpetrators, although the accuracy of these identifications remains unconfirmed.

Seoul Metropolitan Police have commenced a thorough investigation into these violations. Kim Bong-sik, the chief of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, expressed his concerns at a press conference, highlighting the disturbing spread of this content among tech-savvy young individuals and its impact on both students and educators.