The state of global platforms' responses to digital sex crimes, including Google and Telegram, came under scrutiny at a parliamentary audit. Critics said platforms have been inadequate in protecting victims and managing illegal content, citing cases in which victims' personal information was exposed after they asked for illegal recordings to be removed and the continued distribution of child and youth sexual exploitation material via Telegram.

At the National Assembly's audit of the Korea Communications Commission under the Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on Monday, Google Korea head Yoon Koo (윤구) and Telegram Chief Operating and Compliance Officer Sandeep Yadav, among others, appeared as witnesses. They were questioned about their response systems for digital sex crimes and the status of cooperation with South Korean authorities.

Kim Woo-young (김우영), a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, said problems arose when Google handled requests to remove digital sex crime material. He said it provided related information to outside websites without victims' prior consent, exposing their identities.

Kim also said deletion requests were being delayed due to one-time password (OTP) verification procedures in the reporting process and mismatches in submitted information. He urged simplification of reporting procedures and system linkage among relevant agencies.

Lee Ju-hee (이주희), also of the Democratic Party, pressed Google over the exposure of victim information. Lee said an incident revealed in August exposed victims' real names and email addresses, URLs for illegal recordings and details of the takedown requests victims submitted on an outside website, with at least 147 confirmed cases.

Lee also questioned Google's explanation that the cause was human error during a system migration in 2025. Lee said there had been a victim in 2020 who requested the removal of personal information posted on the same website.

Lee said the situation had been left unattended for 6 years, calling it a structural problem that could not be explained as a one-off human error.

Google's response to the Korea Communications Commission's demand for action was also raised as an issue. Lee said Google's reply remained insufficient even after the commission demanded action on Aug. 19, and that it had not provided a specific explanation to lawmakers' questions about measures to prevent recurrence.

Yoon said of the exposure of victim information, "We are deeply reflecting on our mistake that led to it being exposed externally." He added, "We sincerely apologise to those who suffered and to the people."

But he said there were differences from lawmakers' accounts regarding how the case was handled. Yoon said he understood that the outside website was blocked within 24 hours from the day the case was first received and that it was deleted from the server within 48 hours, and that he would further verify the relevant facts.

For Telegram, lawmakers focused on its management responsibility to prevent the distribution of child and youth sexual exploitation material and deepfake sex crimes.

Kim said Telegram has been used for digital sex crimes, including the so-called Nth Room case. He asked whether its illegal content filtering, victim protection measures and responses to cooperation requests from South Korean investigative and regulatory authorities were sufficient.

Yadav said Telegram uses an AI-based detection system to block illegal content and related accounts.

He also said it operates a 24-hour response channel to cooperate with South Korean authorities and typically responds within 2 to 10 hours to requests to delete content and provide user information related to illegal acts.

Lawmakers also raised the issue that sites distributing illegal recordings and copyright-infringing sites are easily exposed through Google search. They criticised that substitute addresses of illegal sites blocked for access in South Korea appear at the top of Google search results, undermining the effectiveness of blocking measures.

Yoon replied that he would consult the company's headquarters technical team and relevant agencies to review measures on restricting the exposure of illegal sites in search results and improving reporting procedures.

The audit also raised the need to strengthen oversight of whether global platforms are taking sufficient responsibility for deleting illegal content and protecting victims while providing services to users in South Korea.