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 lawfully hack into websites that distribute illegally recorded sexual material in an effort to combat digital sex crimes, officials announced on Thursday. The proposal, outlined in a joint inter-agency response plan, would grant law enforcement the ability to directly access these sites to remove exploitative content and gather evidence, according to a statement from the Gender Equality Ministry, the Korea Media and Communications Commission, and the National Police Agency.
The push for this change comes in response to 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 2025 from just 2,087 in 2019.
The plan also includes the proposal to revise existing legislation, allowing investigators to legally hack into the targeted websites. This approach is not unique to Korea, as similar systems utilizing warrants have been implemented in countries like Australia and Britain. By taking down sexually exploitative material, authorities hope to minimize damage to victims and strengthen their ability to collect evidence in these cases.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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