South Korea set to criminalize possessing or watching sexually explicit deepfake videos
South Korean lawmakers have passed legislation banning the possession and watching of sexually explicit deepfake images and video, according to the Reuters news agency. The new law was passed Thursday by South Korea's National Assembly. It now lacks only a signature of approval by President Yoon Suk Yeol before it can be enacted.
Under the terms of the new bill, anyone who purchases, saves or watches such material could face up to three years in jail or be fined up to the equivalent of $22,600.
It is already illegal in South Korea to create sexually explicit deepfake material with the intention of distributing the content, with offenders facing a sentence of up to five years in prison or a fine of about $38,000 under the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act
If the new legislation is signed into law, the maximum sentence for the crime of creating deepfake pornography would be increased to seven years, regardless of whether the creator intended to distribute the images, according to Reuters.
