Court jails creator of deepfakes targeting girl group aespa's Karina and Winter

A person who created deepfake content using images of girl group aespa's Karina and Winter was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, the group's agency SM Entertainment said on Thursday.

Additionally, the Daegu High Court ordered the convict to undergo 80 hours of sex crime prevention training and barred them from working at a children- and youth-related facility for seven years.

The defendant not only created the deepfakes but also sold them for profit.

“We have collected malicious comments and posts [about our artists] through reports from fans and our own monitoring and have filed criminal complaints [against those online users] with law enforcement authorities,” SM Entertainment said.

The agency monitors domestic and international internet forums and platforms, including DC Inside, FM Korea, Instiz, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

“Investigations are underway, with most of the perpetrators being identified,” SM Entertainment added.

The agency vowed to continuously pursue legal actions against malicious rumors and comments, as well as sexual content, on a zero-tolerance principle.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]