First France, now South Korea – Telegram’s legal problems are only getting worse. that’s why | Wilnesh News

Telegram is now facing potential legal trouble in South Korea, following the recent arrest of its founder in France.

The country’s chief police investigator has announced preliminary findings Investigation into alleged role of instant messaging platform According to the local Yonhap News Agency, abetting a sexual crime.

Against this backdrop, South Korea is grappling with the spread of deepfake pornographic content targeting young women in the country, including teenagers.

The investigation also raises another level of suspicion against Telegram, following the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France on August 24 for alleged crimes related to the messaging app. Significant legal challenges.

Durov, a 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire, was arrested by French authorities on July 8 after launching a preliminary investigation into Telegram.

Similar to the South Korean investigation, French authorities Investigating the platform’s role in disseminating pornographic images of minors and facilitating organized crime, drug trafficking and fraud.

Durov was reportedly accused of failing to reduce such criminal activity on the platform. Telegram said in an article Statement posted on social media platform It complies with EU law and Durov has “nothing to hide”.

Woo Jong-soo, director of the National Investigation Office, linked their case to that in France and said he planned to cooperate with French counterparts and other international agencies, Yonhap reported on Monday.

According to reports, Woo said that Telegram will not easily provide investigation data such as account information to any national investigative agency, including those in the United States, so the investigation may become complicated.

Telegram refuses to share messages with investigators when required by law French investigation.

While Durov’s arrest is seen as an unprecedented move, the platform has recently faced legal issues in other countries, such as Brazil and Germanydue to concerns about illegal and harmful content.

Although Telegram argued that its content moderation practices were “Comply with industry standards and continuously improve,” Certain features of the platform make it a specific target for government scrutiny.

The app only requires users to provide a phone number to register and offers the ability to have end-to-end encrypted conversations through a “secret chat” feature, providing a high degree of anonymity.

These anonymity features have long attracted illicit actors such as scammers and extremist groups to the platform. Now, in South Korea, they are attracting publishers of deepfake porn.

Deepfakes are videos, sounds or images of real people that have been digitally modified and manipulated. As generative AI technologies emerge, they are becoming increasingly prominent.

According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean police are investigating eight automated programs that generate deepfake pornographic content for Telegram groups, as well as chat rooms responsible for spreading such content.

The investigations come against a backdrop of mounting pressure on authorities to respond. Report Describe in detail how Telegram groups. Some group sizes are 220,000 membershas been used to share sexually exploitative deepfake images of female students at local colleges, high schools, and even junior high schools.

This is not the first time Telegram has been the focus of a sex crimes scandal in South Korea.

In 2020, South Korean authorities arrested a crime syndicate leader Online ransomware using Telegram and forcing women and children to share explicit images of themselves. No legal action was taken against Telegram at the time.

In response to Durov’s arrest, GWI consumer and technology analyst Chris Beer told CNBC’s “Signpost Europe” that it’s unclear how far authorities are willing to go to regulate and crack down on Telegram, despite other news and Social media apps may also come under scrutiny.

Bill added that there remains a tension between some consumers who want their free speech protected and governments who want them protected from harmful content.