Ruma was having lunch on a summer day in 2021 when her phone began blowing up with notifications.

When she opened the messages, they were devastating. Photos of her face had been taken from social media and edited onto naked bodies, shared with dozens of users in a chat room on the messaging app Telegram.

The comments in screen shots of the chat room were demeaning and vulgar – as were the texts from the anonymous messenger who had sent her the images. “Isn’t it funny? … Watching your own sex video,” they wrote. “Tell me you honestly enjoy this.”

The harassment escalated into threats to share the images more widely and taunts that police wouldn’t be able to find the perpetrators. The sender seemed to know her personal details, but she had no way to identify them.

While revenge porn – the nonconsensual sharing of sexual images – has been around for nearly as long as the internet, the proliferation of AI tools means that anyone can be targeted by explicit deepfakes, even if they’ve never taken or sent a nude photo.

South Korea has had a particularly fraught recent history of digital sex crimes, from hidden cameras in public facilities to Telegram chat rooms where women and girls were coerced and blackmailed into posting demeaning sexual content.

But deepfake technology is now posing a new threat, and the crisis is particularly acute in schools. Between January and early November last year, more than 900 students, teachers and staff in schools reported that they fell victim to deepfake sex crimes, according to data from the country’s education ministry. Those figures do not include universities, which have also seen a spate of deepfake porn attacks.

In response, the ministry established an emergency task force. And in September, legislators passed an amendment that made possessing and viewing deepfake porn punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won (over $20,000).

Creating and distributing non-consensual deepfake explicit images now has a maximum prison sentence of seven years, up from five.

South Korea’s National Police Agency has urged its officers to “take the lead in completely eradicating deepfake sex crimes.”

But of 964 deepfake-related sex crime cases reported from January to October last year, police made 23 arrests, according to a Seoul National Police statement.

Victims taking action

Ruma was a 27-year-old university student when her nightmare first began. When she went to the police, they told her they would request user information from Telegram, but warned the platform was notorious for not sharing such data, she said.

Once an outgoing student who enjoyed school and an active social life, Ruma said the incident had completely changed her life.

“It broke my whole belief system about the world,” she said. “The fact that they could use such vulgar, rough images to humiliate and violate you to that extreme extent really damages you almost irrevocably.”

She decided to act after learning that investigations into reports by other students had ended after a few months, with police citing difficulty in identifying suspects.

Ruma and fellow students sought help from Won Eun-ji, an activist who gained national fame for exposing South Korea’s largest digital sex crime group on Telegram in 2020.

Won agreed to help, creating a fake Telegram account and posing as a man in his 30s to infiltrate the chat room where the deepfake images had circulated. She spent nearly two years carefully gathering information and engaging other users in conversation, before coordinating with police to help carry out a sting operation.

When police confronted the suspect, Won sent him a Telegram message. His phone pinged – he had been caught.

Two former students from the prestigious Seoul National University (SNU) were arrested last May. The main perpetrator was ultimately sentenced to 9 years in prison for producing and distributing sexually exploitative materials, while an accomplice was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

Excerpts of the ruling shared by Ruma’s lawyers state, “The fake explicit materials produced by the perpetrator are repugnant, and the conversations surrounding them are shocking … They targeted victims as if they were hunting prey, sexually insulted the victims and destroyed their dignity by using photos from graduations, weddings, and family gatherings.”

Ruma’s case is just one of thousands across South Korea – and some victims had less help from police.

Public often unsympathetic

“My hands started to shake,” she recalled. “When could this photo have been taken, and who would upload such a thing?”

But she said the situation worsened two days later. Her hair was made messy, and her body was altered to make it look like she was looking back. The manipulated picture of her face was added onto nude photos. The sophisticated technology made the images unnervingly realistic.

Police told her that their only option to identify the poster was to request user information from Twitter, the social media platform bought by Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded as X in 2023, with an emphasis on free speech and privacy.

Kim and a colleague, also a victim of a secret filming, feared that using official channels to identify the user would take too long and launched their own investigation.

They identified the person: a quiet, introverted student “someone you’d never imagine doing such a thing,” Kim said.

The person was charged but regardless of what happens in court, she said life will never be the same.

She said a lack of public empathy has frustrated her too. “I read a lot of articles and comments about deepfakes saying, ‘Why is it a serious crime when it’s not even your real body?’” Kim said.

According to X’s current policy, obtaining user information involves obtaining a subpoena, court order, or other valid legal document and submitting a request on law enforcement letterhead via its website.

X says it’s company policy to inform users that a request has been made.

Its rules on authenticity state that users “may not share inauthentic content on X that may deceive people or lead to harm.”

Pressure on social platforms to act

Won, the activist, said that for a long time, sharing and viewing sexual content of women was not considered a serious offense in South Korea.

Though pornography is banned, authorities have long failed to enforce the law or punish offenders, Won said.

Societal apathy makes it easier for perpetrators to commit digital sex crimes, Won said, including what she called “acquaintance humiliation.”

“Acquaintance humiliation” often begins with perpetrators sharing photos and personal information of women they know on Telegram, offering to create deepfake content or asking others to do so. Victims live in fear as attackers often know their personal information – where they live, work, and even details about their families – posing real threats to their safety and allowing anonymous users to harass women directly.

Since South Korea’s largest digital sex exploitation case on Telegram in 2020, Won said the sexual exploitation ecosystem had fluctuated, shrinking during large-scale police investigations but expanding again once authorities ease off.

Online platforms are also under pressure to act.

Telegram, which has become a fertile space for various digital crimes, announced it would begin sharing user data with authorities as part of a broader crackdown on illegal activities.

The move came after the company’s CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in August in France on a warrant relating to Telegram’s lack of moderation, marking a turning point for a platform long recognized for its commitment to privacy and encrypted messaging. Durov is under formal investigation but has been allowed to leave France, he said in a post on Telegram.

Last September, South Korea’s media regulator said Telegram had agreed to establish a hotline to help wipe illegal content from the app, and that the company had removed 148 digital sex crime videos as requested by the regulator.

Won welcomed this move, but with some skepticism – saying governments should remove the app from app stores, to prevent new users from signing up, if Telegram doesn’t show substantial progress soon. “This is something that has been delayed for far too long,” she said.

A meaningful breakthrough occurred this January, marking the first time Korean authorities successfully obtained crime-related data from Telegram, according to Seoul police.

Fourteen people were arrested, including six minors, for allegedly sexually exploiting over 200 victims through Telegram. The criminal ring’s mastermind had allegedly targeted men and women of various ages since 2020, and more than 70 others were under investigation for allegedly creating and sharing deepfake exploitation materials, Seoul police said.

“No matter how much punishments are strengthened, there are still far more victims who suffer because their perpetrators have not been caught, and that’s why it feels like the verdict is still far from being a true realization of change or justice,” Ruma said. “There’s a long way to go.”

Virginia Giuffre, who alleged Britain’s Prince Andrew abused her when she was a teenager, has died by suicide, her family said. She was 41.

Police confirmed that emergency services found a woman unresponsive in her home near Perth, Western Australia, on Friday night. She was pronounced dead at the scene after first aid was unsuccessful.

Her death is not being treated as suspicious, police said.

Giuffre, a mother of three, was one of the most prominent accusers of the wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In 2019, she publicly alleged Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including Prince Andrew, when she was 17 years old.

She also claimed the prince was aware she was underage in the US at the time.

Prince Andrew repeatedly denied the claims.

“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” read a statement from the family.

“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.”

“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.”

“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”

Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. In the US, call or text 988, for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Globally, the International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.

Throngs of mourners are gathering in Vatican City and lining the streets of Rome on Saturday to give a final send-off to Pope Francis, who will be remembered as a champion of migrants and the poor, and for his efforts to reshape the Catholic Church.

His funeral Mass is being held on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the Catholic Church’s most important sites, with more than 50 world leaders and 11 reigning monarchs in attendance. They are expected to include US President Donald Trump, Argentine President Javier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Filipino President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., head of the largest Catholic nation in Asia.

The Vatican has prepared for as many as 250,000 people to flock to St. Peter’s Square and one million more to line the 6-kilometer (3.7 mile) procession route from Vatican City through Rome to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, in hopes of seeing the pope’s modest coffin as it travels to his final resting place.

Many more of world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will watch the funeral for the first Latin American pope on TV.

Pope Francis died at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke on Easter Monday, just one day after he appeared in the same square to offer a blessing to the faithful at the high point of the Christian calendar.

In the days that followed, about 250,000 mourners came to pay their final respects as his body lay in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica. His coffin was officially sealed on Friday night in a liturgical rite led by the Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the church.

As daylight gleams off the massive travertine columns of St. Peter’s Square on Saturday morning, the funeral Mass will open with the chant, sung in Latin: “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.”

A Bible reading will be given in English, and a “Prayer of the Faithful” will be offered up in multiple other languages, including French, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, German and for the first time, Mandarin, fitting for a pope who sought to reach out to followers in all parts of the globe.

In keeping with tradition, the Mass will include a homily and communion and end with a final commendation and farewell. Francis approved the order of the day for Saturday back in June 2024.

But other elements of the day will be pared back, as Francis had sought to “simplify and adapt” proceedings, so that the papal funeral is “that of a pastor and disciple of Christ, and not of a powerful person in this world,” according to Vatican officials.

Francis, who chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, with his commitment to poverty, peace and nature, also wanted to reflect his own dedication to the homeless and disadvantaged in the day’s events.

He believed “the poor have a privileged place in the heart of God,” a Holy See statement said. “For this reason, a group of poor and needy people will be present on the steps leading to the papal Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore to pay their last respects to Pope Francis before the burial of his coffin.”

They will be the last members of the public to see his wooden coffin, after it’s driven slowly through the streets of Rome – past tourist highlights like the Piazza Venezia and the ancient Colosseum – in his final procession.

Francis will become the first pope in more than three centuries to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore, with the interment taking place away from the public eye.

He was a pope of many firsts – the first Latin American Pontiff, the first of the Jesuit order and the first modern-day pope born outside of Europe.

Elected in 2013 as an outsider candidate from Argentina, Francis went on to usher in progressive reforms, including the promotion of women’s roles in the church.

But his 12-year leadership was not without criticism. He took some important steps to address the Catholic Church’s clerical sexual abuse scandals, but campaigners and survivors say there is still much more to do.

Divisions within the Church over same-sex relationships also persisted throughout his papacy. When asked about his position on sexual orientation, the pope famously said, “Who am I to judge?” but also reaffirmed the Church’s position that homosexuality is considered sinful.

And his record was disparaged by some of the more conservative cardinals and members of the Church.

Francis issued a rebuke of the Trump administration’s immigration policy earlier this year, and criticized Vice President JD Vance’s use of theology to defend its approach. Vance was one of the last people to meet with the pope, in a brief encounter on Easter Sunday.

The next pope will be chosen by cardinals from around the world in conclave, a closed-door process that may see a battle play out between those who want to continue Pope Francis’ progressive path and those who want to reverse it.

“He made some good changes in the Church. I think the Church is now more open,” said Laura Grund, from Leipzig, Germany, who was among the last people to see the late pope lying in state. “He opened many doors.”

“He was a very simple man, who loved other people,” said Sister Luisa, a nun from Munich. “We feel very blessed, but also deep sorrow.”

Lost dogs rarely capture international attention but for several weeks the world has watched and waited for updates on the search for Valerie, a miniature dachshund missing in the Australian wilderness.

Then on Friday night, after 529 days roaming Kangaroo Island, off South Australia, the tiny dog with a pink collar was finally cornered, and the internet erupted with rare joy.

“Valerie has been safely rescued and is fit and well,” Kangala Wildlife Rescue announced on its Facebook group on Friday night to a flurry of likes and shares.

Key to her rescue was a smelly T-shirt worn by her owner in 12-hour shifts that was ripped up and used as a scent trail to attract her to an enclosure, Kangala directors Jared and Lisa Karran said in a video posted to Facebook.

“We were able to rip little strips off of it, and we started the process of just adding more and more bits towards the trap site as we went along,” said Lisa Karran.

Karran wore the owner’s now “tatty” T-shirt while sitting in the cage, and eventually the rogue sausage dog dropped her defenses and approached her rescuers.

“She came up, would sniff us and we’d just go by her cues, until she was completely calm and snuggled up in our laps. It was amazing,” Karran said.

Valerie vanished during a camping holiday with her owners Josh Fishlock and Georgia Gardner, November 2023. When strangers tried to help, she fled into the undergrowth, and her owners eventually gave up and returned home to the mainland.

With no sightings it was assumed Valerie had met her match with a snake or perhaps a giant Rosenberg’s goanna, reptiles up to 1.5 meters long that occupy the island.

Then reports of multiple sightings started to spread. Could it be that Valerie was alive?

A massive search operation swung into action led by volunteers from the Kangala Wildlife Rescue, a non-profit group set up in 2020 following the devastating Australian bushfires.

“We are using surveillance and various trapping and luring methods in the area she was last seen to try and bring her home. This is a tiny dog in a huge area, and we will need help from the public to report any sightings and a lot of luck,” the group announced on Facebook.

When bad weather compromised the 4G cameras they’d set up to monitor her movements, a call went out for a portable Starlink system. “Message Elon on X. I bet he would help,” someone suggested. Thankfully, an offer came from closer to home.

Some suggested using heat-seeking drones to find her, others recommended roast chicken.

Not all followers have been supportive. Some accused the charity of prolonging the search to raise extra money through appeals for donations. A member of the group responded that they were doing their best to find her.

Part of the problem, the charity said, was the island’s vibrant ecosystem.

“One of the reasons this is such a difficult rescue and not as easy as just baiting and setting traps, is due to the fact we are constantly competing with hundreds of wildlife like possums, wallabies, kangaroos, goannas and feral cats. All which are all just after a feed also,” the group posted on Facebook.

Home to around 5,000 people, the island is about 45-minute trip by ferry from the mainland. Tourists go there to see Australian native wildlife, but officials have long had a problem controlling introduced species including feral cats. The island is thick with bush, and there are many places for a small dog to hide.

The Kangala rescuers put out food boxes and a pen was set up with toys from home. A remote-controlled trapping device was procured, and then they waited.

By Friday, Valerie’s adventure was over.

After the gate to the enclosure closed behind her, Valerie looked around for an exit, the rescuers said. After a few anxious moments, she did what any lost dog might do after realizing the game was up.

“She actually went into her crate, the one that was set up to look like the one at home, and she went and had a sleep,” said Jared Karran.

Valerie is now “decompressing,” Karran said, and will be returned to her owners for a more sedate life on the mainland.

One victim had recently returned home after decades working abroad to enjoy a retirement filled with travel and family time; another hoped the trip into the beauty of Indian-administered Kashmir would cheer the spirits of his semi-paralyzed wife.

Both men were among 26 tourists shot dead by militants this week in a massacre that has ripped open old wounds between India and its neighbor Pakistan, tipping them a step closer to military escalation.

Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety, but each control only part. They have fought three wars over the territory – which is famous for its dramatic mountains and lush meadows – since their independence from Britain in 1947.

A bloody, decades-long insurgency in India’s part of the region has killed tens of thousands, waged by militant groups demanding either independence or a merger with Pakistan.

India says those groups are supported by Pakistan, which Islamabad denies.

Tuesday’s attack – during which men were singled out and gunned down from close range, according to survivors’ testimony – was the latest in a list of bloody incidents to stain the region.

Balachandran Menonparambil feels as though he’s lost his “right hand,” after his friend of six decades Ramachandran Narayanamenon was killed in the attack.

Having spent decades working in Qatar, Narayanamenon “looked forward to a life of retirement,” according to his friend, who described him as “a happy man,” caring and reliable.

“He was on a trip with his wife Shiela, daughter Aarti, and two grandchildren and was looking forward to enjoying himself with his grandchildren,” said the 70-year-old.

He recalled how “excited” Narayanamenon, 69, sounded in their last call before he boarded the flight to Kashmir on Monday.

A day later, Menonparambil was told that his friend was dead.

“I was watching TV and they began to show what was happening in Kashmir… so I called him, but he did not pick up,” he said.

He then reached out to Narayanamenon’s son Arvind, who told him that “Dad is gone.”

He said people came up to offer condolences to him at the cremation. “Everybody was asking me what I will do, only half of me is working now. I told them he is there with me in my heart,” he said.

Other survivors speaking to local media said the gunmen accused some of the victims of supporting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2019, Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government stripped Muslim-majority Kashmir of its previous autonomy, sparking protests.

After Tuesday’s massacre, New Delhi swiftly pointed the finger at Pakistan, downgrading ties and suspending its participation in a crucial water-sharing treaty. Pakistan has denied involvement and said any attempt to stop or divert water belonging to it would be considered an act of war.

All three men, described as “loving fathers” and family breadwinners, came from just outside the megacity of Mumbai. They had taken the trip to Pahalgam together, according to Kadam.

Sanjay and Hemant were both accountants working for small private firms, while Atul worked for the Indian Railways, he said.

For the Leles, Kadam said, the trip was long planned. His sister-in-law suffers from a form of paralysis on the left side of her body that means she walks with difficulty.

“They had been planning this trip for a while but because of her health issues… it had gotten postponed. Once her health was doing better, they finally all lined up their schedules and managed to go,” he said.

“Lele told his wife that if you won’t go, none of us will go. So she agreed and finally they all went,” said Kadam.

Kadam himself did not go on the trip, but later traveled to Kashmir to help bring the shell-shocked survivors from his family back home.

The holidaying family bought food from a stall not long before the attack. Unaccustomed to the realities of the restive region, they initially mistook the sound of gunfire for fireworks, Kadam said, but were warned to take shelter by locals who sensed danger.

All three men were shot shortly after, he said. A bullet grazed his 20-year-old nephew Harshal’s hand.

It took almost four hours for disabled Kavita to struggle down the hill to safety, he said.

He said the families have taken hope from protests in India demanding justice for the victims and their families.

Still, their lives have been changed forever.

“This is not something that can end,” he said.

“We have to now live with this.”