Seoul police request cooperation from France to investigate Telegram

The head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said on October 7 that his agency has requested cooperation from French authorities to investigate the messaging app Telegram about its suspected role in the distribution of deepfake pornographic videos, Report informs via Yonhap.

SMPA Commissioner Kim Bong-sik made the remarks in a meeting with reporters, saying international judicial cooperation with France may take some time as it is a procedure that goes through the justice and foreign ministries.

In August, French prosecutors arrested Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov and indicted him on multiple charges, including spreading child abuse images, drug trafficking and failure to comply with law enforcement requests.

The SMPA has also sent an official document to Telegram saying that it began an investigation into the app prior to the indictment on charges of abetting the deepfake porn crimes.

The SMPA, meanwhile, said its special task force formed recently to crack down on deepfake porn crimes has received 186 cases and is now investigating 136 of them. Of the 84 suspects identified, 59, or 70.2 percent, are in their teens, the agency noted.