HONG KONG — Chinese language authorities in Hong Kong have launched a legal investigation after greater than a dozen feminine college students and academics on the College of Hong Kong accused a male legislation pupil of utilizing AI to generate deepfake porn photos of them.
The probe, introduced Tuesday by the Workplace of the Privateness Commissioner for Private Knowledge, got here after an outcry from college students on the college, town’s oldest, who mentioned it hadn’t performed sufficient to guard them or punish the accused.
“The pictures had been organized into folders named after the victims, totaling 700+ photos (together with the unique photographs),” learn a extensively circulated letter that was posted Saturday on Instagram from an account run by three unnamed victims.
The accused, referred to within the letter solely as “a male legislation pupil,” took photographs of the victims from social media and used AI software program to generate pornographic photos with their faces, in line with the letter. The pictures had been found on his laptop computer reported to the college in February. They weren’t recognized to have been extensively distributed.
In March, the college interviewed a number of the victims, and in April knowledgeable one in all them that the accused pupil had written a 60-word “apology letter.”
Whereas NBC Information was unable to verify the authenticity of that letter, and the account didn’t reply to a request for remark, the college mentioned it was “conscious of the social media posts regarding a pupil allegedly utilizing AI instruments to create indecent photos.”
“The College has already issued him a warning letter and demanded him a proper apology to his affected friends,” the college mentioned Saturday in a assertion.
Deepfake porn is a sort of nonconsensual pornography that includes altering present photos or creating solely new ones utilizing available AI instruments to make it seem that an individual has participated in sexual acts.
Rules in Hong Kong across the expertise are presently sparse. Whereas it criminalizes “publication or threatened publication of intimate photos with out consent,” it doesn’t explicitly outlaw their era.
Within the U.S., rules govern dissemination, with President Donald Trump signing laws in Might that bans nonconsensual on-line publication of AI-generated porn, however federal legislation doesn’t explicitly prohibit private possession, and a district decide dominated in February that possessing such photos was protected by the First Modification.
After it was rocked by numerous scandals just like the one taking part in out in Hong Kong, South Korea handed a legislation final yr that criminalizes not solely the possession but additionally the consumption of such content material.
Although the College of Hong Kong mentioned that it had undertaken numerous steps on behalf of the victims, “together with class changes,” the victims wrote within the letter that the college’s inaction had resulted in them being pressured to share the classroom with the suspect “at the very least 4 instances, inflicting pointless psychological misery.”
Outrage has since grown within the wider pupil group, which has demanded extra stringent motion. That prompted a response from town’s prime official, Chief Govt John Lee, who mentioned at a information briefing Tuesday that universities have the “accountability of creating college students’ ethical character,” including establishments ought to “cope with pupil misconduct severely.”
“Any conduct that causes hurt to others could represent a legal offense and might also infringe particular person rights and in addition privateness,” he mentioned.
The college didn’t reply to a request for remark from NBC Information, nevertheless it informed the South China Morning Put up this week that it was conducting a evaluate of the incident and vowed additional motion if victims demanded extra.
“The college is now additional reviewing the case and can take additional actions when applicable to make sure a secure and respectful studying atmosphere,” it mentioned.
