"Suddenly Gone"… Telegram Cautious Amid Undercover Operation Targeting Sexual Exploitation Content Disguise

Photo by Getty Images Bank

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] "There must be at least one police officer in this group chat as well."

"Sharing adult videos like that will get you caught quickly."

Telegram, which was pointed out as a hotbed of sexual exploitation and obscene materials through incidents like the 'Doctor's Room' and 'Nth Room' cases. With the possibility of undercover police investigations targeting digital sex crimes against children and adolescents, changes are occurring. Since undercover investigations became possible from the 24th of last month, more people have been cautious.

On the 3rd, posts related to undercover police investigations could be found in one of Telegram's adult content sharing chat rooms. Participants shared media reports and information about undercover investigations. They also discussed ways to evade police surveillance and warned in chats, "Since undercover investigations are starting, never engage in monetary transactions or exchanges of (obscene materials)." Seemingly concerned about the situation, a new notice including the item 'No uploading of adult videos' was posted in the chat room.

Additionally, there were responses that many adult content sharing chat rooms on Telegram had been shut down. One participant said, "These days, because of undercover investigations, all (adult content sharing chat rooms) have been busted," adding, "It seems like a time to be cautious." Furthermore, messages accusing those posting adult content of being "police" and calls to "ban them" poured in.

However, undercover police investigations are limited to crimes involving children and adolescents, making it difficult to apply them to digital sex crimes targeting adults. In one chat room, adult content was shared and 'jinin-neungyok' was committed without concern for undercover investigations. 'Jinin-neungyok' refers to synthesizing a friend's face with obscene photos and distributing them.

As sexual exploitation obscene materials targeting adults continue to circulate due to the limitation to children and adolescents, there have been calls to expand the scope. However, experts agree that careful consideration is necessary. This is because the system is still in its early stages and there are concerns about misuse, such as inducing crimes by people who have no intention of committing them.

Oh Yoon-sung, professor of Police Administration at Soonchunhyang University, explained, "If undercover investigations are implemented and prove effective, the scope can be expanded, but there may be concerns about abuse of police authority. It would be possible to consider expanding the scope after observing over time and if the effects appear without significant side effects."

Lee Yoon-ho, professor of Police Administration at Dongguk University, also said, "Because misuse must be considered, the system appears to have been implemented targeting children and adolescents who can gain social consensus. It is desirable to implement the system first and then review whether to expand the target scope."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.