Korea seeks to allow lawful hacking by investigators to delete illegal sexual material
Korea plans to review allowing investigators to lawfully hack into websites distributing illegally filmed sexual material in a push to clamp down on digital sex crimes, officials said Thursday. Under the proposed move, investigators will be able to directly access such websites to take down sexually exploitative material to minimize damage to victims and collect evidence, according to an…
Korea is considering allowing investigators to legally hack into websites hosting illegal sexual material as part of efforts to combat digital sex crimes, officials announced on Thursday. According to an inter-agency response plan, law enforcement agencies will have the authority to directly access such websites to remove exploitative content and gather evidence, according to a joint plan between the Ministry of Gender Equality, the Korea Media and Communications Commission, and the National Police Agency.
The proposal aims to address the increasing number of victims of digital sex crimes in the country over the past few years. Between 2021 and 2025, police investigated 17,716 cases of digital sex crimes, with the number of victims receiving support from authorities rising to 10,637 in 2024 from just 2,087 in 2019. The plan also seeks to revise existing legislation to grant investigators these powers, noting that similar systems with warrant-based authorizations are already in place in Australia and Britain.
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