South Korea’s Earlier Crackdown on Deepfake Pornography
Amid public outrage over non-consensual deepfake pornography targeting K-pop stars, teachers, and minors, Korea criminalized the creation and distribution of sexually explicit deepfakes and later passed a law punishing even viewing or possessing such content with prison time or significant fines.
Police raids and prosecutions signaled that deepfake abuse was a serious crime, not a gray area of online culture.
The experience hardened public opinion against AI misuse and normalized the idea that certain AI outputs warrant special criminal treatment.
That earlier fight made it politically easier to portray AI ad-labeling not as overreach but as the next logical step in defending citizens from AI-driven manipulation.
