Deepfakes: South Korea says ‘significant progress’ in talks with Telegram

Seoul, Sep 30
The South Korean state telecommunications watchdog on Sunday noted "significant progress" in its recent talks with Telegram over the handling of deepfake content on the encrypted messaging app.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) added that its chairman, Ryu Hee-lim, is scheduled to announce the results of those talks with Telegram on Monday, reports Yonhap news agency.

"We met with Telegram's top security officer and others in a third country on Friday and Saturday," a KCSC official said. "There was some significant progress, and our chairman will announce that himself."

As per industry sources, Telegram offered to promptly remove all illegal content, including those related to deepfakes, drugs and gambling, upon a request by the KCSC, and that it also recognised the need to cooperate with South Korean police and other agencies.

Amid a surge in deepfake videos, Telegram opened a hotline with the KCSC earlier this month to better respond to such content on its platform. Telegram has since removed dozens of explicit materials and notified the KCSC immediately.

Meanwhile, Telegram can disclose users' data upon reasonable requests from authorities, the encrypted messaging service's co-founder Pavel Durov said on his Telegram channel earlier this weel.

"We've made it clear that the IP addresses and phone numbers of those who violate our rules can be disclosed to relevant authorities in response to valid legal requests," Durov said, specifying that the messenger has updated its terms of service and privacy policy, bringing them to uniformity across the world.

Such changes were introduced to "further deter criminals from abusing Telegram Search," he noted.

Durov, a native of Russia, was detained in Paris last month and later released on a $5.6 million bail for charges including failing to act against Telegram users involved in cyberbullying, sharing pedophilic content and glorifying terrorism. He was placed under judicial supervision and banned from leaving France.