YG Entertainment to take legal action against deepfake content
YG Entertainment has joined South Korea's battle against deepfake content.
The agency, which features a roster of talent including BLACKPINK, 2NE1, BabyMonster, and more, issued a statement regarding its actions against the said videos.
"We are seriously concerned about the ongoing creation and circulation of inappropriate deepfake content (AI-based synthetic videos) involving our artists," the statement read.
"We are continuously monitoring these extensive and malicious illegal activities, actively working to remove and block such content. We are also pursuing possible legal measures, including criminal proceedings to address these issues."
In addition to YG, JYP Entertainment previously said they would pursue legal action with a law firm, "without leniency."
Two months ago, another K-pop label, ADOR, said police were investigating creators and distributors profiting from deepfake content depicting its girl group NewJeans.
South Korea is currently battling a surge of deepfake pornography spreading online. The country's president Yoon Suk Yeol has since ordered a crackdown on the content after it was discovered that many women and girls have become the target of deepfake images of a sexual nature.
Authorities have been ordered to "aggressively" go after individuals making and spreading the explicit materials in a seven-month campaign beginning in August.
Previously, data gathered by local police revealed that 297 cases of deepfake pornography were documented in the first seven months of the year. This is higher than the 180 cases recorded in 2023.
The crackdown comes after the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested by authorities due to cases of alleged child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraud that were taking place on the messaging app.