Global entertainment lifestyle platform company HYBE and Korea’s Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency (NGPPA) arrested eight suspects responsible for creating and distributing deepfake videos of HYBE Music Group artists. 

Of the eight, six were detained for creating Telegram chats to produce and distribute false videos.

HYBE is home to K-pop artists BTS, Tomorrow X Together, Seventeen, ENHYPEN, Illit, Le Sserafim, TWS, BOYNEXTDOOR, NewJeans and &Team. 

HYBE building in Seoul (Photo from HYBE website)

According to HYBE, the investigation is a result of a memorandum of agreement signed last February between HYBE and NGPPA as proactive approach to combat cybercrimes and protect HYBE artists. 

Through this, HYBE provided information on the suspects, which NGPPA utilized to track down, identify, and successfully arrest the suspects. 

Fans also played an important role in the investigation, especially through reports that were sent through the HYBE Artist Rights Violation Report Center, a tip line that the company established last September. 

Their proactive reports of defamatory synthetic posts have contributed to identifying criminal activities. 

“HYBE will respond firmly to crimes that infringe on our artists’ portrait rights and reputations, based on a zero-tolerance and no-settlement policy,” said Jason Jaesang Lee, CEO of HYBE, said. “We will continue to monitor and take legal action to eradicate such serious crimes.”

Assuring to track down and arrest deepfake criminals, Ho-seung Kim, district chief of NGPPA said,  “Deepfake crimes that exploit the vulnerabilities of celebrities—who often find it difficult to report such offenses themselves—are on the rise. Deepfake is a serious type of crime that can destroy the daily lives of victims, and crimes targeting public figures are no exception.”