Seoul, Sep 23 (IANS): A parliamentary committee passed a bill on Monday, toughening the punishment for deepfake sex crimes against children and teenagers.

The parliamentary gender equality and Family Committee passed revisions to the Act on the Protection of Children against sex crimes and the sexual violence prevention act amid public alarm over a surge in digital sex crimes using doctored pornographic images of girls and women, reports Yonhap news agency.

Under the revision to the Act on protecting children, using sexually exploitative material to blackmail or coerce children and teenagers will be newly punishable by law and more heavily than under existing laws.

While current laws punish such crimes with imprisonment of one or more years in the case of blackmail and three or more years in the case of coercion, the revision raises the sentences to three or more years and five or more years, respectively, in the event the crimes are carried out against children and teenagers.

Meanwhile, the revision to the sexual violence prevention act stipulates that it is the government's responsibility to delete illegally filmed material and help victims return to everyday life.

It also establishes the basis for the central and local governments to operate help centres for digital sex crime victims.