Middle School Students Referred to Authorities Over Deepfake Pornography Using Classmates' Faces

A group of male middle school students has been caught en masse by police for fabricating and circulating so-called "deepfake" pornographic materials by synthesizing the facial photos of female students attending the same school.

The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency announced on the 29th that it has apprehended eight male middle school students, including a student identified as A, under charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (production and distribution of false video materials), and referred them to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and the Suwon Family Court, respectively.

Among the eight perpetrators, police transferred four who were subject to criminal punishment at the time of the crime (aged 14 or older) to the prosecution, while the remaining four who fall under the category of juvenile delinquents (aged 10 to under 14) were referred to the juvenile division of the family court.

The referral procedures for these individuals were carried out sequentially from the end of March to June of this year.

Student A and the others are accused of producing, viewing, and sharing deepfake pornographic materials from May to August of last year by capturing everyday photos posted on social media by female students at the same school and synthesizing them with other images.

The number of victims identified so far reaches around 10.

Investigations revealed that they shared the false video materials among themselves via social media, and no evidence of external distribution has been found yet.

A police official stated, "The degree of participation in the crimes—such as producing, viewing, and possessing false video materials—differed for each perpetrator, so we concluded the investigation by applying varying specific charges," adding, "Due to concerns over secondary victimization, we cannot disclose the specific details of how the investigation was initiated."

(Photo provided by Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.