Telegram responds to the Korea Communications Commission on the result of designation of youth protection officer

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) announced on November 19 that Telegram had notified the results of the designation of a youth protection manager and hotline on November 9, and that it would respond strongly to illegal information and copyright infringement.

On November 7, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) noted that deepfake sexual crime materials were mainly distributed through Telegram, and requested Telegram to strengthen its self-regulation, designate a person in charge of youth protection, and reply with the results. In response, Telegram designated a person in charge of youth protection and notified the relevant details within two days of the request, and also provided a hotline email address for administrative communication. It is said that Telegram replied to an email sent by the KCC to check if the hotline email was functioning normally within four hours, saying, “We will cooperate closely.”

The KCC evaluates Telegram’s prompt response as a positive step forward, and plans to cooperate with Telegram’s youth protection officer to establish a plan to block and manage youth-harming information on its services and protect youth from harmful information. This is a measure to smoothly carry out the duties stipulated in the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.

Kim Tae-gyu, acting chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, said, “In a situation where Telegram has increased its number of users and recognition in Korea, it is important to gain the trust of society and users in order to pursue continuous growth,” and emphasized, “Strengthening communication with the KCC will be a key element in building this trust.” He also said, “As Telegram voluntarily promised, I hope that it will thoroughly manage illegal information such as deepfake sexual crime materials from being distributed on its platform and fulfill its social responsibility.”

Meanwhile, Telegram has been providing services that emphasize security and secret chat rooms, and has been quite passive in communicating with governments and public institutions of each country. However, recently, as cases of illegal information being distributed to an unspecified number of people by distributing chat room links and passwords, or illegal information being distributed through public channels have become frequent, the Korea Communications Commission has decided that public regulation and deliberation are necessary for this Telegram service. Accordingly, the Korea Communications Commission has officially urged Telegram to fulfill its obligations.

Editor. Hong Se-yeong