Deepfake Interest in South Korea: A Temporal Analysis of Google Trends from 2017 to 2024

Deepfake technology, which utilizes artificial intelligence to generate hyper-realistically manipulated videos, images, texts, and audio, has garnered significant public and academic interest. The proliferation of deepfakes, especially in non-consensual pornography, financial fraud and political misinformation, has sparked ethical, moral, legal, and security debates worldwide. While existing research predominantly focuses on deepfake detection, legal frameworks, and their potential impact on the democratic process, few studies have examined public interest in deepfakes and the factors influencing search behavior. This study addresses this gap by analyzing public interest in deepfakes in South Korea, using Google Trends data from January 2017 to August 2024. This timeframe is particularly significant as it encompasses the initial emergence of deepfake technology in 2017 and its increasing use in fraudulent and non-consensual content in South Korea. The country represents a unique case due to its global leadership in deepfake-related searches, widespread consumption of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, and frequent occurrence of deepfake fraud. This study employs dictionary-based text analysis to categorize search queries into three main themes: sexual content, techniques for creating deepfakes, and methods for accessing deepfake materials. The findings indicate that 77.81% of searches are related to non-consensual sexual content, primarily targeting female celebrities. Contrary to global trends, political deepfakes did not significantly influence search patterns in South Korea. These insights highlight the urgent need for stronger regulatory frameworks and technological interventions to mitigate the harms associated with deepfakes.

LINK: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ikad/issue/90816/1570974

Influence of Various Media Sources on the Fear of Terrorism: A Comparative Study of Japan and Taiwan

Abstract: 

This study examines the relationship between media consumption and fear of terrorism in Japan and Taiwan, two countries that experience low exposure to terrorism yet exhibit high levels of fear regarding terrorism. The analysis investigates the effects of active media sources (such as newspapers and the internet) and passive media sources (such as television, radio, and social media) on fear of terrorism, using data from the seventh wave of the World Values Survey. Ordered Logistic Regression (OLR) analysis was conducted on data from 1,273 participants in Japan and 1,221 participants in Taiwan. The findings indicate that active media sources do not have a statistically significant effect on fear of terrorism in either country. In contrast, passive media sources are positively associated with increased fear of terrorism, with this effect being statistically stronger in Japan than in Taiwan. Additionally, demographic factors such as gender, age, and education influence fear of terrorism. In both countries, women report higher levels of fear regarding terrorism than men. In Japan, younger individuals exhibit lower levels of fear regarding terrorism. Education level significantly impacts fear of terrorism in Taiwan, where lower education levels are associated with higher fear regarding terrorism. These findings provide valuable insights into how media consumption and demographic factors influence perceptions and fears of terrorism in low-risk countries such as Taiwan and Japan. 

Keywords: Fear of Terrorism, Japan, Taiwan, Active Media Sources, Passive Media Sources.

LINK: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/4228513

The Importance of Mixed Method in Terrorism Study

Abstract

This research presents a systematic review of the importance of mixed methods in terrorism studies. This paper aims to show the importance of using mixed approaches on terrorism literature. In this regard, I argue that mixed methods play an essential role in advancing terrorism studies because by using qualitative and quantitative method approaches in the same analysis, the scholar can integrate the power of both methodologies and translate the results into a helpful solution. I offer an overview of this field of research in this study. To defend this argument, I prepared two datasets and analyzed them quantitatively. A second quantitative analysis was conducted, focusing on the cases of Japan and Korea, which emerged from the first analysis and differed from the other examples. Accordingly, with quantitative analysis focusing on the cases of Korea and Japan, I will show why quantitative analysis alone is insufficient for terrorism studies. I then discuss the main results of this research and explain why the mixed method approach is essential in terrorism studies.

LINK: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ijshs/issue/80516/1378747#article_cite

ARE TAIWANESE AFRAID OF TERRORISM? THE IMPACTS OF HARD AND SOFT TERRORISM ON TAIWANESE

Technological developments in the last 20 years have affected people's daily lives and caused many innovations. The internet and social media are among the most important developments, and these developments have led to an increase in the speed of news and people's rapid access to information on various topics. However, progress in technology has also affected terrorist organisations. This effect has changed the methods, strategies, and visions of terrorist organisations. With these new methods and strategies, terrorist organisations could negatively affect the psychology of the people who are not directly affected by global terrorism. The best example of this is Taiwan. In this study, I focus on the impact of hard and soft terrorism on the Taiwanese. In this direction, I use the mixed-method approach in this study. I analyse the 7th wave of the World Values Survey with the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression method. Qualitative face-to-face interviews with Taiwanese will support the quantitative results.

Keywords:

The Soft Terrorism Strategy; The Hard Terrorism Strategy; Taiwan; Social media; Mass media

Related Link: http://global.ir.fisip.ui.ac.id/index.php/global/article/view/715 

The Roles and Impact of Mass Media and Social Media in Terrorism in Southeast Asia

 Southeast Asia is home to the world’s many emerging economies. Southeast Asian

countries have democratized over the years. They are rich in natural resources and

offer many opportunities for trade. However, terrorism has come to threaten the

economic opportunities in Southeast Asia in recent years.

The ghost of terrorism is a global problem. It is a ghost that has that

frightened most of the world after coordinated terrorist attacks against the United

States on 11 September 2001 resulted in the collapse of the twin towers of the

original World Trade Center in New York. Following this terrorist attack, many

governments around the world launched a war against terrorism (Güzel 2002). This

war against terrorism is still ongoing today, and has become more intense. Southeast

Asia is part of this war and is committed to the fight against terrorism. Southeast

Asian governments have indeed been suffering from terrorist threats for a long time,

as evinced by the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia and the Battle of Marawi in the

Philippines. The threat of terrorism in the Southeast Asian region has only grown in

scope and severity over time (Teymur 2007).

LINK: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355488994_The_Roles_and_Impact_of_Mass_Media_and_Social_Media_in_Terrorism_in_Southeast_Asia?_sg=BXTrf4kBHgwquNMtdDQJQq78Mhv4Cxd9Qa0MnaFH23LvEowXcA_lbTxbmqdrb81AbBuLTFC0-k404M-nd3jORgbcZ9H00mmk4ulJ2crN.R9J8DQuc5txCyx5TkhDMdY42jesenxR_R4u2AzKcwEJbFclq0kJ0W012YY60K9qzebGbEdWGdN0DOLvBU1bwMA

The Effect Of Ethnic Participation And Ethnic Fractionalization On Terrorism in Sri Lanka

Terrorism is one of the biggest problems in the world. This problem has disturbed the people of Sri Lanka for many years. Sinhalese and Tamil, the two biggest ethnic groups of this island country, have been in conflict for many years. This study tries to analyze the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka. Besides, this study tries to reveal the causes and consequences of conflict. The main purpose of this paper is to look directly at and examine the association between ethnic participation in political life and fractionalization in Sri Lanka, and the possibility of an act of terrorism from that nation. 

Keywords: Sri Lanka, LTTE, Ethnic Participation, Ethnic Fractionalization, Terrorism

LINK: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/bader/issue/59113/850715