The “sudden move” by Telegram to cooperate with the South Korean authorities could be tied to the arrest in France of the app’s chief Pavel Durov, on charges of failing to act against criminals, a cyber-security professor told AFP.

The disturbing practice is becoming a serious problem in the country, and it is mainly hurting women and minors.

South Korean lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that criminalizes possessing or watching sexually explicit deepfake images and videos, with penalties set to include prison terms and fines.

South Korea is poised to criminalize possessing or looking at sexually explicit AI-manipulated deepfake photos or video.