SEOUL, Aug 28 (Reuters) - South Korean authorities said

on Wednesday they plan to ask Telegram and other social media

platforms to more actively help with the deletion and blocking

of sexually explicit deepfake content, part of measures aimed at

tackling the growing problem.

The steps come amid public and political outrage after

several domestic media outlets reported that sexually explicit

deepfake images and videos of South Korean women were often

found in Telegram chatrooms.

A 24-hour hotline for victims will also be set up and the

number of regulatory personnel monitoring digital sex crimes

will be doubled from the current number of 70, the Korea

Communications Standards Commission said.

The Korean National Police Agency also said it will make a

seven-month push to crack down on online sex crimes.

The media watchdog plans to set up a consultative body to

enhance communication with social media firms about deleting and

blocking sexual deepfake content, its chairman, Ryu Hee-lim,

told a meeting on the issue.

For companies that don't have offices in South Korea, it

wants to set up a face-to-face channel for regular consultation.

"Production, possession and distribution of deepfake sex

crime videos are a serious crime that destroys the individual

dignity and personal rights," Ryu said.

In addition to Telegram, the commission said it would be

seeking cooperation from X as well as Meta's Facebook

and Instagram and Google's YouTube. None of the

companies responded to Reuters request for comment.

Criticism of Telegram in South Korea has coincided with the

arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram's Russian-born founder, on the

weekend - part of a French probe into child pornography, drug

trafficking and fraud on the encrypted messaging app.

The number of deepfake sex crime cases in South Korea has

surged from 156 in 2021 when data was first collated to 297 so

far this year, with most of the perpetrators being teenagers,

according to police data.

The victims are usually female and include school students

as well as female soldiers in South Korea's military.

South Koreans have made more than 6,400 requests for help

from the Korea Communications Standards Commission to have

sexually explicit deepfake content taken down this year. That

compares with nearly 7,200 cases last year in which the

commission agreed to help take down the content.