Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to Host 2nd International Conference on Responding to Digital Sex Crimes

[Financial News]  The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will host the 2nd International Conference on Responding to Digital Sex Crimes on the 29th in cooperation with the Korean Women’s Human Rights Promotion Agency and the UN Women Knowledge and Partnerships Centre in the Republic of Korea.
Held at Hotel President in Jung-gu, Seoul, the conference was organized to explore diverse responses to the rapidly increasing problem of child and adolescent sexual exploitation material amid advances in AI technology. About 150 people, including officials from law enforcement agencies and representatives of IT companies from South Korea and abroad, will attend.
The conference will consist of three sessions.
The first session will examine South Korea’s laws, systems and cases related to responding to and preventing digital sex crimes, including child and adolescent sexual exploitation material.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will present its achievements in responding to emerging digital sex crimes, including deepfakes, as well as future tasks such as emergency blocking, cutting off profits and strengthening service-provider accountability through the Digital Sex Crime Victim Integrated Support Team.
Participants will also share current issues, including recent cases in which global platform companies have leaked victims’ personal information.
They will discuss ways to cooperate so that the personal information of victims of digital sex crimes can be managed and protected more securely on domestic and international platforms.
The Korean Women’s Human Rights Promotion Agency will present its achievements in advancing an AI-based system for automatic detection and takedown requests, along with the need for international cooperation to overcome structural limitations in responding to illegal websites overseas.
The Korean National Police Agency will introduce its achievements and future tasks, including expanding undercover investigations, developing deepfake detection software and using international investigative cooperation techniques.
The second session will examine international cooperation systems for addressing child and adolescent sexual exploitation material distributed across borders.
INHOPE - Association of Internet Hotline Providers will introduce the current operation of a response system linking hotline networks around the world with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) under the theme "Responding to Child and Adolescent Sexual Exploitation Material: Activities of INHOPE Hotlines."
The Judiciary of Thailand, the Vietnam Ministry of Public Security and the Philippine Commission on Women will then share information on the situation in their respective countries, efforts to block child and adolescent sexual exploitation material and policies to protect victims.
The third session will share the current status of detection, blocking and reporting systems operated by global platforms and infrastructure companies for child and adolescent sexual exploitation material, and discuss public-private cooperation.
Global infrastructure company Cloudflare will present the role of infrastructure providers and ways for platforms, governments and civil society to cooperate. Microsoft will discuss how technical interventions can help safety infrastructure function effectively.
NAVER, a leading Korean portal operator, will introduce three-layer detection technologies, including DNA filtering, AI filters and contextual analysis, as well as service-specific blocking measures. It will also highlight the need for joint responses to new criminal methods.
The conference will conclude with a panel discussion on strengthening cooperation systems for supporting victims.
Panelists will discuss cooperation among countries and relevant organizations to support victims and explore ways to respond to digital sex crimes with the participation of governments, international organizations, investigative agencies and private companies.
Won Min-kyong, minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said, "Digital sex crimes require a coordinated international response, from victim support and the swift deletion and blocking of videos depicting victims to punishing offenders and strengthening platform accountability. We will further solidify cooperation systems with relevant organizations and companies in South Korea and abroad, and strengthen support so that victims can quickly return to their daily lives."

[email protected] Jung Sang-kyun Reporter