The government is pushing a government-wide plan to disable websites distributing illegal spycam material, including directly punishing site operators and cutting off revenue sources such as advertising and accounts. It is also considering introducing so-called “legal hacking” that would allow investigative agencies to access crime sites directly to delete data or seize accounts.

The Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission said on the 20th it prepared a “comprehensive response plan to illegal sites based on in-depth analysis of websites distributing illegal spycam material” together with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the National Police Agency.

An analysis of 34,628 illegal sites obtained during victim takedown support from May 2018 to May this year found 6,683, or 19.3 percent, are still accessible. Of those, 1,316 were run in Korean or had Korea-related categories, and the number of posted videos related to Koreans was estimated at about 2.15 million.

The main revenue source for illegal sites was banner advertising for gambling and prostitution, among other things. A total of 40,686 related advertisements were posted on 1,674 sites accessible from domestic networks, and crime proceeds from 126 sites caught by police since 2021 totalled about 30.4 billion won.

The government is considering revising laws to make the act of setting up an illegal site a standalone crime and punish operators as principal offenders. It also plans to create a “special investigation team for illegal sites” in the police. Citing cases in Australia and Britain, it is also considering introducing an active defence system that would allow investigative agencies to directly access criminal infrastructure to delete data and seize accounts.

It is also pushing steps to ban advertising on sites distributing illegal spycam material and suspend transactions for related accounts. It plans to jointly request overseas hosting and content delivery network (CDN) providers to halt services.

To respond to “domain shuttling,” in which sites repeatedly change domains, the government will also build an AI-based automatic detection and analysis system. For sites that repeatedly refuse requests to delete illegal spycam material, it is also pushing an emergency takedown request right that would allow the gender equality minister to directly ask key telecommunications operators to block access.

Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chairman of the Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission, said, “We will cooperate with related agencies to respond without gaps across every stage, from supporting victims to preventing distribution, deletion and blocking, and investigations, and create a digital environment in which people can feel safe.”

Gender Equality and Family Minister Min-kyung Won (원민경) said, “We will focus all policy capacity on disabling illegal sites themselves, including blocking revenue, intensive investigations to catch operators, and stronger punishment.”

Yu Jae-sung (유재성), acting commissioner general of the National Police Agency, said, “We will conduct an all-out investigation to uproot the entire illegal profit ecosystem behind digital sex exploitation sites and completely dismantle criminal cartels.”