Amid growing concerns about sexually exploitative deepfake content, last month the cloud-based instant messaging app Telegram enjoyed the biggest increase to date in its South Korean membership numbers.

According to app analysis service provider Mobile Index on Thursday, three-point-47 million monthly active users logged into Telegram at least once in August, up 311-thousand from a month earlier.

The latest monthly tally is the biggest since compilation of data began in March 2021.

While teenagers reportedly made up significant proportions of both perpetrators and victims of the latest deepfake sex crimes in the country, monthly active user numbers in this age group rose by around 100-thousand to 512-thousand in August, accounting for 32 percent of the total increase from July.
 
Mobile app stores rate Telegram as suitable for users aged 12 or older.