2 Thai men create and sell AI generated nude images of Thai celebrities
Cyber police arrested two Thai men for creating nude images of more than 30 Thai celebrities with an artificial intelligence (AI) program and selling them on a Russia-based social media application, Vkontakte, also known as VK.
Two female Thai actresses, Panadda Wongphudee, Known as Bum, and Sakuntala Tianpairoj, known as Tonhom, filed complaints with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) after discovering their edited nude images being shared online. They had never taken the pictures or shared them with anyone, but the images were perfectly edited, destroying their images and reputations.
Bum told the media that a friend shared the edited image with her and convinced her to file a complaint with the police. Bum said more than 30 other Thai actors and actresses fell victim to this criminal, and she wanted them to report the matter to the police for the photo editors to receive proper punishment.
Bum added that she felt sorry that the criminals used their photo editing skills in the wrong way. They should earn them a lot of money if they use these skills for legal careers.
Tonhom said she was one of the victims whose edited explicit images were shared on the VK application. Tonhom had previously come forward to file a complaint against an online gambling website operator who used her picture and video to promote online gambling.
Cyber police conducted a further investigation into the VK account, Please Cut It Off (รบกวนตัดออกให้ที), which shared all the edited nude images. The account had over 120,000 followers and had a private group where members had to pay to see explicit content. As well as editing and selling illegal images, the account also offered an AI photo-editing programme for hire and access to photo-editing lessons provided by the account administrators.
The charges for the crime
The account was found to be operated by two Thai men, 24 year old Thanaphat Sornsichai and 39 year old Pasit Warasisub. The two were arrested on December 16, and the equipment used in the crime was seized. They face four charges including:
- Section 14(1) of the Computer Act: importing false information into the computer system in a way that is likely to cause damages to the public. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
- Section 14(4) of the Computer Act: importing indecent information into the computer system which the public is likely to access. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
- Section 14(5) of the Computer Act: distributing information with the knowledge that it violates Section 14(1) and (4). The penalty will be imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to 100,000 baht.
- Section 287(1) of the Criminal Law: producing, possessing, importing, exporting, or distributing indecent documents, paintings, publications, pictures, advertisements, photos, films, voice records, or others. The penalty will be imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of up to 60,000 baht, or both.
