South Korean police launch investigation into Telegram over online sex crimes, Yonhap reports

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean police have launched an investigation into messaging platform Telegram over deepfake sex crimes online, Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, citing a senior police official.

The investigation will examine whether the spread of sexually explicit deepfake content was promoted, Yonhap said, citing the head of the National Office of Investigation.

An official at the national police agency's cyber investigation bureau declined to confirm the report by telephone.

South Korean authorities have called on Telegram and other social media platforms to work together to combat sexually explicit deepfake content.

The moves follow reports by several domestic media outlets that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of South Korean women are common in Telegram chatrooms.

Telegram could not immediately be reached for comment, but the company said last week that it actively moderates harmful content on its platform, including illegal pornography.

“Moderators use a combination of proactive monitoring of public parts of the platform, sophisticated AI tools, and user reports to remove millions of pieces of harmful content every day,” it said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies)