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It is illegal to create and use "deepfake" videos with AI technology during elections. While the National Election Commission (NEC) has been requesting platforms like Google and Meta to take them down, more than 30% of the problematic videos from the June 3 local elections have still not been deleted.
Park Chan-beom reports in this exclusive story.
[Reporter]
[Candidate Choo, please revive Daegu's economy.]
[Understood, I will definitely do so.]
[We should also meet the Daegu Princess at least once...]
This is a video circulated during the June 3 local elections.
Images of former President Park Geun-hye and Daegu mayoral candidates at the time reel off words they never actually said.
It is a fake video created with AI.
[What you say is truly remarkable.]
[Could that 'remarkable' be my 'Sintong'?]
[No, I am 'Cheokcheok.']
This, too, is fake.
Under the Public Official Election Act, no one may create or post images or videos made using artificial intelligence technology for election campaigns starting 90 days prior to election day.
The National Election Commission requested the relevant platforms to delete "election deepfake posts," but numerous instances still remain undeleted.
According to NEC data, as of the end of August, the deletion rate stood at 75% for the 2024 general election and 77.1% for last year's presidential election, while the June 3 local elections reached only 68.3%.
Lack of cooperation from foreign platforms is cited as the primary reason why the non-deletion rate reached 32%.
Looking at the deletion rates by platform for the June 3 local elections, domestic platforms such as Naver and Daum recorded 100%, but among foreign platforms, Google stood at 69.8% and Meta at 65.3%.
The NEC also laid out a plan to secure a 3.5 billion won budget to establish detection software and systems, but critics point out that guidance and cooperation for deletion must come first.
[Jin Jong-oh / Member of the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee (People Power Party): The NEC should not merely detect and search, but prepare practical response measures in coordination with foreign platforms so that actual deletions can take place.]
The NEC explained to SBS, "Foreign corporations are beyond the jurisdiction of domestic laws, and the criteria for determining illegal posts also differ from those in Korea," while Google and Meta did not provide a comment.
(Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Nam Il | Graphics by Park Taeyoung)
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