The individual who created and distributed deepfake content targeting the group aespa has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison.
On the 18th, SM Entertainment announced that Mr. A, who produced and sold deepfake videos of Karina and Winter, received a two-year-and-six-month prison sentence.
The Daegu High Court’s Criminal Division 1 also ordered the offender to complete 80 hours of a sex offender treatment program and imposed a seven-year employment ban at institutions related to children and adolescents.
Regarding this, SM Entertainment stated, "With tips from fans and our own monitoring, we are closely watching major domestic and overseas platforms," adding, "As noted in last quarter’s notice, meaningful results continue in cases related to deepfakes."
They continued, "We are consistently filing criminal complaints against authors of malicious posts and comments about our artists for alleged violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes, the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, and the Framework Act on Telecommunications," emphasizing, "We will respond forcefully without any leniency or settlements."
Meanwhile, aespa recently released their second full-length album, 'Lemonade' (LEMONADE), and are actively promoting.