South Korean Cops Probe Telegram Over Online Sex Crimes: Yonhap

South Korean police have launched an investigation into the messaging platform Telegram over deepfake online sex crimes, Yonhap news agency reported.

Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, was recently arrested in France.

The probe will examine whether Telegram has been abetting the distribution of sexually explicit deepfake content, Yonhap said, quoting the head of the National Office of Investigation. Jack Kim also reported for Reuters.

An official at the National Police Agency's cyber investigation bureau declined to confirm the report when reached by telephone.

South Korean authorities have called on Telegram and other social media platforms to cooperate in fighting sexually explicit deepfake content.

The steps follow reports by several domestic media outlets that sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of South Korean women were often found in Telegram chatrooms.

Telegram stated last week that it actively moderates harmful content on its platform, including illegal pornography.

"Moderators use a combination of proactive monitoring of public parts of the platform, sophisticated AI tools, and user reports to remove millions of pieces of harmful content each day."