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Eight arrested in South Korea over HYBE Artist deepfake videos
April12
South Korean police have arrested eight individuals in connection with the creation and distributio
South Korean police have arrested eight individuals in connection with the creation and distribution of deepfake videos featuring artists managed by K-pop powerhouse HYBE, the company confirmed this week.
The arrests mark a significant development in HYBE’s ongoing crackdown on harmful content targeting its artists, particularly AI-generated sexual exploitation content.
HYBE CEO Jason Jaesang Lee (pictured) issued a strong statement following the arrests, reaffirming the company’s “zero-tolerance and no-settlement policy” toward any actions that infringe on the rights or reputations of its artists. “We will continue to monitor and take legal action to eradicate such serious crimes,” Lee said.
The arrests were carried out by the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, which has been working in partnership with HYBE to tackle online abuse. Through this alliance, HYBE is able to provide authorities with evidence when it believes criminal activity has occurred.
According to *The Korea Herald*, the latest action is part of a broader investigation targeting 23 individuals accused of circulating sexually explicit deepfake videos via Telegram chatrooms. Thirteen suspects have been detained so far, including six connected to the HYBE cases.
South Korea has some of the world’s strictest laws regarding deepfake content. Under recent legal reforms, those found guilty of creating such content face up to seven years in prison, while simply consuming it can result in a three-year sentence.
HYBE has established a fan-reporting portal to flag illegal or harmful content, including copyright infringements, privacy violations, and now, deepfake material. The company added a dedicated category last year specifically to address AI-generated pornography, calling it a “serious social problem.”
The deepfake arrests also come amid increased scrutiny over online attacks targeting HYBE artists, including the girl group NewJeans, currently embroiled in a legal battle with HYBE’s sub-label Ador. Despite the dispute, Ador has ramped up monitoring efforts, citing a sharp rise in “malicious posts” targeting the group.
In an update shared this week, Ador confirmed that one individual suspected of creating deepfake videos of NewJeans members has been handed over to prosecutors while in custody. The agency emphasized it would not accept settlements or show leniency in such cases, vowing to pursue all legal avenues to ensure accountability.
“We are responding rigorously to deepfake crimes, which have become a significant social issue,” the statement read. “We are closely cooperating with law enforcement regarding the production and dissemination of false videos targeting the artist.”
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