Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.It is not easy to grow up as a young woman in South Korea. Despite efforts to shake off the country\u2019s pervasive culture of sexism, technology seems to enable a new wave of misogynistic crimes every few years.First there was the spy cam epidemic, in which thousands of women were secretly filmed using public toilets and changing rooms. The problem was so prevalent that I still check to see if there are any hidden cameras whenever I enter a public bathroom.Now, artificial intelligence is fuelling a crisis in deepfakes. Altered images and videos, which often superimpose women\u2019s faces on to explicit content without their consent, are easy to make and widely shared. Last year it emerged that a 40-year-old graduate of Seoul National University had targeted dozens of his fellow female students, making pornographic deepfakes from their online images and sharing them via Telegram.The case sparked public outcry and has led to an increase in police investigations. In the first nine months of 2024, more than 800 deepfake sex crimes were investigated \u2014 compared with 156 for all of 2021. Still, the problem continues to grow.Part of the problem is that making deepfakes is not difficult. Easy-to-use mobile apps like Face Swapper and Reface allow users to take a selfie or upload a picture and choose the image or video they want to swap faces with. Within seconds, they automatically reface and generate synthetic digital images and videos that look believable. Lee Myung-hwa, director of the Aha Seoul Youth Culture Centre, which counsels young sex offenders, also points out that not all perpetrators understand how serious the crime is, or what impact they have.\u201cTeenagers, who are good at using digital tools, make deepfakes as a game or prank out of sexual curiosity,\u201d she says. They do not always understand how serious the consequences are. \u201cThe victims can\u2019t lead their daily lives, being afraid to go out and unable to trust their acquaintances.\u201dI am not an active user of social media. Still, the new digital menace has made me and other women I know feel anxious about the images of us that may exist online. Although deepfake porn is a global problem, South Korea has been hit particularly hard. Many of the country\u2019s best-known female singers and actors have been affected.\u00a0Experts say deepfakes are just the latest manifestation of the country\u2019s deep-rooted misogyny. \u201cOnline gender-based violence is an increasing problem globally but is especially widespread in South Korea,\u201d Heather Barr, an associate director at Human Rights Watch, said last year. \u201cWomen seeking police help are often dismissed, retraumatised and even ridiculed. There is very little sexuality education in South Korea\u2019s schools to help young people understand how wrong this conduct is.\u201d Sera Cho, a 27-year-old school teacher in Seoul, experienced this first hand after a stranger took pictures of her legs when she was taking a stroll with her dog in her apartment complex. She immediately reported the case to police but was told there was no way to punish the perpetrator because she was not wearing leggings. \u201cI felt like I would not be protected even if there were more serious crimes,\u201d she says. Faced with growing calls for stronger protection, South Korea has begun to criminalise the purchase, possession and viewing of sexually explicit deepfakes. It has also developed a digital tool that can automatically track, monitor and delete them. Even so, authorities struggle to rein in the problem. Activists say the government should have acted earlier. The country has only just begun to crack down on the creation and sharing of sexually explicit deepfakes.Lee says limiting access to technology is not enough. \u201cThe deeper problem is people\u2019s lack of awareness on gender equality. Without a cultural shift, the problem will probably continue.\u201dMeanwhile, women like Cho are doing their best to protect themselves from digital manipulation by removing their pictures from social media and deactivating their accounts. I have done the same. As Cho puts it: \u201cIt is tiring and fearful.\u201djunga.song@ft.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.It is not easy to grow up as a young woman in South Korea. Despite efforts to shake off the country\u2019s pervasive culture of sexism, technology<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-191539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}