Mobilising Digital Feminism in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: South Korean and Chinese Women against Pornographic Deepfakes

Pornographic deepfakes are a category of digital sexual offences that have been persistently rising, driven by the rapid progress in AI technology. In 2024, South Korea experienced a widespread crisis involving pornographic deepfakes that predominantly affected women, including minors. The feminist reaction to this case has been lightning-fast: mobilisations have transitioned from online to offline, also receiving support from abroad. This research aims to highlight the gendered dimension of technological innovations as well as the awareness of digital feminists on this matter from a technofeminist perspective. Particularly, it examines the activism of South Korean and Chinese feminists opposing pornographic deepfakes via hashtag campaigns. This study relies on qualitative content analysis of online posts from Instagram and two country-specific digital platforms, Naver in South Korea and Xiaohongshu in the People’s Republic of China, to examine the timeline and dynamics of the mobilisations’ building process in South Korea and among the Chinese diaspora. The discussion explores the characteristics, practices and claims of these mobilisations. Additionally, it presents an overview of recent legislative developments regarding deepfakes at both the international level and within South Korea and China. The findings aim to 1) enhance understanding of the digital feminist movements in both countries and their alliance, and 2) amplify the arguments and demands of the movement under study.