Cybersecurity News that Matters
Subscribe
World

Security in numbers: 388 deepfakes appeared in South Korean elections

By Dain Oh, The Readable
Apr. 18, 2024 6:25PM GMT+9

In December of last year, South Korea amended the Public Official Election Act to safeguard the nation from potential harm that artificial intelligence might pose to upcoming elections.

The newly instituted Article 82-8 of the law states, “No one may produce, edit, distribute, screen, or post deepfake videos for election campaigning purposes from 90 days before election day to election day itself.” This prohibition took effect on January 29.

Furthermore, in preparation for the parliamentary elections on April 10, the National Election Commission (NEC) expanded its special response team for false information to include an AI detector team.

A week has passed since the elections concluded. The Readable has compiled public data released by government agencies that played a crucial role in safeguarding the integrity of the elections. Kuksung Nam and Minkyung Shin contributed to this report.

Election campaigning deepfakes

Total cases violating the Public Official Election Act—Article 82-8, with deletion requests issued by the National Election Commission from March 25 to April 10. Numbers above each bar represent cumulative totals from previous days. Designed by Sangseon Kim. Source: The National Election Commission

The spread of false information

A total of cases that violated the Public Official Election Act―Article 82-4, which states “No one shall disseminate untrue facts about a candidate, his or her spouse, or any of his or her lineal ascendants or descendants or siblings through an information and communications network.” Numbers below each bar represents year (left) and ordinal numeral of parliamentary election. Data for the 22nd election was collected from October 25 of last year through April 10 of this year. Designed by Sangseon Kim. Source: The National Election Commission

Election crimes: Data provided by Supreme Prosecutors’ Office

Numbers below the horizontal bar individually represents year (left) and ordinal numeral of parliamentary election. Designed by Sangseon Kim. Source: Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of the Republic of Korea

Election crimes: Data provided by Korean National Police Agency

Numbers below the horizontal bar individually represents year (left) and ordinal numeral of parliamentary election. Designed by Sangseon Kim. Source: Korean National Police Agency

  • [Apr. 11, 2024] Election Commission identifies over 72,000 instances of misinformation about candidates
  • [Apr. 8, 2024] AI-driven Chinese influence campaigns target elections across Korea, US, India, experts warn
  • [Apr. 9, 2024] Rise in fake news as South Korean elections draw near
  • [Mar. 20, 2024] Transparency: Ireland’s strategy to safeguard elections in the AI era
  • [Mar. 5, 2024] South Korean police to fight deepfakes ahead of general election
  • [Feb. 1, 2024] South Korean President warns of North Korea’s interference in April election
  • [Jan. 31, 2024] Security outlook 2024: AI, Election, the Paris Olympics
  • [Jan. 25, 2024] South Korea reinspects election security prior to general election
  • [Dec. 7, 2023] South Korea should beware of North Korea’s interference in 2024 election, expert stressed
  • [Oct. 10, 2023] North Korea hacked South Korea’s electoral regulator, intelligence agency reveals

ohdain@thereadable.co

The cover image of this article was designed by Areum Hwang. This article was copyedited by Arthur Gregory Willers.

Dain Oh is a distinguished journalist based in South Korea, recognized for her exceptional contributions to the field. As the founder and editor-in-chief of The Readable, she has demonstrated her expertise in leading media outlets to success. Prior to establishing The Readable, Dain was a journalist for The Electronic Times, a prestigious IT newspaper in Korea. During her tenure, she extensively covered the cybersecurity industry, delivering groundbreaking reports. Her work included exclusive stories, such as the revelation of incident response information sharing by the National Intelligence Service. These accomplishments led to her receiving the Journalist of the Year Award in 2021 by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology, a well-deserved accolade bestowed upon her through a unanimous decision. Dain has been invited to speak at several global conferences, including the APEC Women in STEM Principles and Actions, which was funded by the U.S. State Department. Additionally, she is an active member of the Asian American Journalists Association, further exhibiting her commitment to journalism.

Read next