Authorities plan AI monitoring, ad bans and police teams to target networks tied to gambling and prostitution.
The government plans to crack down on websites distributing illegal video and image content as they become bait to lure users into gambling and prostitution sites, with officials even considering the use of “lawful hacking” to disable them.
“We have developed an integrated response aimed at disabling illegal sites, moving beyond an approach centered on helping victims remove content,” Noh Hyun-seo, deputy head of the joint support team for victims of digital sex crimes, said during a briefing Thursday.
The response comes as websites distributing illegally filmed content evolve into a lucrative criminal business, using the material to attract users and direct them to gambling and prostitution sites.
The government announced plans Thursday to make the creation of such sites a criminal offense and to establish special investigation teams within four metropolitan and provincial police agencies.
It is also considering taking active defense measures, also known as “lawful hacking.” Under the plan, investigators would directly access illegal sites to obtain evidence and delete material. Measures to prohibit advertising on the sites and freeze transactions involving accounts used by their operators will also be pursued.
The government also plans to use AI to analyze and predict domain shuttling, a practice in which operators continuously change website addresses, to automatically detect new sites. Similarities among sites and networks linking operators and advertising revenue will be analyzed so that the findings can be used in investigations and ultimately block them.
The gender equality minister will be given the authority to directly ask telecommunications providers to block access to sites that repeatedly refuse requests to remove content. Technology that blocks new forms of encrypted communications, which existing systems have difficulty filtering, will also be developed.
Key measures, including lawful hacking, advertising bans and the authority to request websites to be blocked, will require legislative amendments.
“Illegally filmed content that destroys the dignity of victims can never be tolerated as a means for someone else to make money,” Gender Minister Won Min-kyoung said. “The government will focus all of its policy resources on disabling illegal sites that are the source of the spread of such content.”
Of the 34,628 illegal websites examined by the government, 6,683 remained accessible, including 3,832 that could be accessed from Korea without any special circumvention measures, the Gender Ministry and National Police Agency said Thursday. The analysis covered 34,628 illegal websites identified since May 2018 through the government’s efforts to help victims remove illegally filmed content, as well as investigative records from 27 cases in which suspects were apprehended over the past five years.
About 2.15 million videos involving Koreans were posted on 1,316 sites that operated in Korea or had sections dedicated to Korea during the period. The site with the largest number contained 385,416 videos.
Of the 318,020 cases in which removal assistance was provided last year, 31.5 percent involved the disclosure of victims’ personal information.
The ministry briefing explained that websites distributing illegal videos and gambling websites are linked through advertising and point-based reward systems. Operators of the illegal content sites attract users by making large volumes of illegally filmed material available, then direct them to gambling websites through banner advertisements. Some websites also awarded points that gave users access to more videos if they signed up for affiliated gambling sites.
Gambling site operators paid advertising fees to the illegal-content sites in return for directing users their way. Some groups operated both gambling sites and sites distributing illegally filmed content.
The government’s analysis found 40,686 banner advertisements for gambling, prostitution and other services across 1,674 illegal sites accessible from Korea. The 933 sites carrying gambling advertisements had an average of 34.7 ads each.
Based on estimated monthly advertising fees ranging from 500,000 won ($360) to 3 million won per banner, annual advertising revenue was estimated at between 208.2 million won and 1.25 billion won per site. Combined annual revenue across all sites was estimated to be between 194.3 billion won and 1.17 trillion won.
“It’s a side job that can generate substantial income without much effort while you continue with your regular job,” a suspect who was apprehended after working as a programmer for an illegal site said.
Free sites were found to attract users while operating backup sites that contained copies of the videos. Some membership-based sites awarded points for uploading videos, posting comments and signing up for gambling sites.
A technical analysis identified 385 clusters of sites, with the sites in each cluster believed to be run by the same operator. One operator was found to have run as many as 26 sites simultaneously.
The operators also easily evaded authorities’ attempts to block their sites. Some 78.8 percent of the illegal sites used overseas content delivery networks. Of those, 93.3 percent used Cloudflare, a U.S.-based CDN provider.
One operator was found to have purchased 85 domains in advance, frequently switching addresses and separately operating five pages directing users to new addresses. Some sites continued operating for three to seven years after access from Korea was blocked, until their operators were apprehended.
BY RHEE ESTHER, CHAE HYE-SEON [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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