The National Election Commission(NEC) announced on Thursday that it has filed a complaint against three YouTubers, alleging they violated the Public Official Election Act by creating deepfake content about the upcoming election.

This marks the first time the NEC has filed a complaint against an alleged creator or distributor of deepfakes since relevant laws were enacted in December 2023.

In a press release, the election watchdog said it filed a complaint with the investigative authorities against three YouTube channel operators who it said created and posted virtual audio, images or videos that are “difficult to distinguish from real ones” using artificial intelligence(AI) technology.

The NEC says the three are accused of posting images of a candidate wearing a prison uniform and being put behind bars a total of 35 times on an online community bulletin board.

There were also ten videos posted on a YouTube channel with an AI anchor delivering reports framed as news segments, allegedly to sway public opinion either in favor of or against certain presidential candidates.

If found guilty, each of the YouTubers could face up to seven years in prison or a fine of 10 million to 50 million won, or around 36-thousand U.S. dollars.