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omonatheydidOne day you wake up to find your personal life plastered all over the web — photographs of your school days, anonymous comments you made on websites and images of your Facebook page. What do you do?
Most South Koreans would advise you to “disappear” for a while. When a university student, who was recently attacked in such a way, responded by posting more things on the web, it only served to fuel the fire.
The student, dubbed “loser girl” by the public, found herself in the web spotlight after appearing on a popular television show, saying: “I don’t want to go out with men under 180 centimeters … . Short guys are losers.” She tried to apologize, but her efforts led to further cyber-attacks.
South Korea, the most wired country in the world, has been at the forefront of many internet-related problems — such as internet addiction. Now that South Korea is experiencing an escalating number of these cyber-attacks, dubbed "witch-hunting" by the local media, it finds itself again on the cusp of a troubling trend. This, more violent, internet-related problem challenges law enforcement jurisdictions and demands fast answers.
Despite the flurry of comments — some, particularly ill-minded against the student, like, “I guess the next news we’ll be hearing is about the loser girl committing suicide” — the case ultimately fizzled, with the television program issuing an apology for not filtering their content before airing it.
The word “loser” soon became a buzzword, and many web users added humor to the case by circulating postings related to successful men who are under 180 centimeters. “Is it Tom Cruiser and Martine Loser King then?” read some of the postings playing on the Korean pronunciation of the word loser.
But the fiasco also made people question whether web sabotage should go unaddressed. Earlier this year a popular boy-band leader, who is Korean-American, was forced to leave his team after someone dug up a posting he had made on MySpace speaking in negative light about Koreans.
“The laws for these types of actions on the web in this country are actually all in place,” said Choung Wan, a professor at Kyunghee University’s Law School. Choung believes Korea is four or five years ahead of other countries in terms of experiencing unhealthy practices on the web, but he also thinks a lot more can be done.
“It’s true that the victims lack education on legal means they can take,” Choung said. South Korea currently has a heavier sentence on cyber defamation than regular defamation crimes and those found guilty of cyber stalking can face up to a year in prison or a fine of roughly $10,000.
The number of violent, cyber-related crimes has almost tripled over the past five years to 13,819 cases in 2008, according to the country’s Cyber Terror Response Center.
Over the years, South Korea has seen a jump in cyber-related deaths with a number of celebrity suicides caused by malicious postings on the web making headlines. However, there has yet to be a high-profile case in which a victim of cyberbullying has taken his or her attacker to the courts.
Unlike Korea, in the U.S., a case involving a 50-year-old woman and a teenager who took her own life went to federal courts as the country’s first cyber-bullying case. The case gained nationwide attention and prompted states that lacked appropriate laws to draft legislation that directly addressed cyberbullying.
Countries in Europe are also waking up to the dangers of cyber-bullying and launching public campaigns to raise awareness.
The nature of cyber witch hunting in Korea slightly differs from Western cyber-bullying. In Korea it is a pack mentality that drives web sabotage, rather than acquaintances of the victim taking action, but the scale of the cyber assaults — blogs, chatrooms, popular web forums — is what heightens the pressure.
“A lot of times [in Korea] people can’t say things upfront, but they easily ride along with others if they’re anonymous,” Choung said.
Added to the problem is the fact that often the victims are in a culture that is more reluctant to take legal steps to solve their problems.
“People do tend to just put up with what they’re going through,” Choung said.
Source: Global Post
Most South Koreans would advise you to “disappear” for a while. When a university student, who was recently attacked in such a way, responded by posting more things on the web, it only served to fuel the fire.
The student, dubbed “loser girl” by the public, found herself in the web spotlight after appearing on a popular television show, saying: “I don’t want to go out with men under 180 centimeters … . Short guys are losers.” She tried to apologize, but her efforts led to further cyber-attacks.
South Korea, the most wired country in the world, has been at the forefront of many internet-related problems — such as internet addiction. Now that South Korea is experiencing an escalating number of these cyber-attacks, dubbed "witch-hunting" by the local media, it finds itself again on the cusp of a troubling trend. This, more violent, internet-related problem challenges law enforcement jurisdictions and demands fast answers.
Despite the flurry of comments — some, particularly ill-minded against the student, like, “I guess the next news we’ll be hearing is about the loser girl committing suicide” — the case ultimately fizzled, with the television program issuing an apology for not filtering their content before airing it.
The word “loser” soon became a buzzword, and many web users added humor to the case by circulating postings related to successful men who are under 180 centimeters. “Is it Tom Cruiser and Martine Loser King then?” read some of the postings playing on the Korean pronunciation of the word loser.
But the fiasco also made people question whether web sabotage should go unaddressed. Earlier this year a popular boy-band leader, who is Korean-American, was forced to leave his team after someone dug up a posting he had made on MySpace speaking in negative light about Koreans.
“The laws for these types of actions on the web in this country are actually all in place,” said Choung Wan, a professor at Kyunghee University’s Law School. Choung believes Korea is four or five years ahead of other countries in terms of experiencing unhealthy practices on the web, but he also thinks a lot more can be done.
“It’s true that the victims lack education on legal means they can take,” Choung said. South Korea currently has a heavier sentence on cyber defamation than regular defamation crimes and those found guilty of cyber stalking can face up to a year in prison or a fine of roughly $10,000.
The number of violent, cyber-related crimes has almost tripled over the past five years to 13,819 cases in 2008, according to the country’s Cyber Terror Response Center.
Over the years, South Korea has seen a jump in cyber-related deaths with a number of celebrity suicides caused by malicious postings on the web making headlines. However, there has yet to be a high-profile case in which a victim of cyberbullying has taken his or her attacker to the courts.
Unlike Korea, in the U.S., a case involving a 50-year-old woman and a teenager who took her own life went to federal courts as the country’s first cyber-bullying case. The case gained nationwide attention and prompted states that lacked appropriate laws to draft legislation that directly addressed cyberbullying.
Countries in Europe are also waking up to the dangers of cyber-bullying and launching public campaigns to raise awareness.
The nature of cyber witch hunting in Korea slightly differs from Western cyber-bullying. In Korea it is a pack mentality that drives web sabotage, rather than acquaintances of the victim taking action, but the scale of the cyber assaults — blogs, chatrooms, popular web forums — is what heightens the pressure.
“A lot of times [in Korea] people can’t say things upfront, but they easily ride along with others if they’re anonymous,” Choung said.
Added to the problem is the fact that often the victims are in a culture that is more reluctant to take legal steps to solve their problems.
“People do tend to just put up with what they’re going through,” Choung said.
Source: Global Post
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:42 pm (UTC)And it most definitely isn't ~just~ Korean. Although I guess their netizen comments seem to have a lot more weight than normal ones. But cyber bullying happens all over man.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:47 pm (UTC)I wonder how often this law is even enforced.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-07 02:42 am (UTC)lol but donghae starred in it so i'm not complaining~
(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 05:51 pm (UTC)....
WTF is wrong with some people, that's a horrible comment to make.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:57 pm (UTC)I guess the next news we’ll be hearing is about the loser girl committing suicide
geez, WHY?
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:00 pm (UTC)I think if we understand why these poeple do these things it could be easier to stop this. It's going too far.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 05:58 pm (UTC)/random
I have no more words apart from them.
I'll never understand bullying, no matter if it's irl or through the internet.
If you don't like someone, ignore him or have a proper talk, but bullying is just... no. It destroys lifes.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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From:Martine Loser King
Date: 2010-01-06 06:05 pm (UTC)Re: Martine Loser King
Date: 2010-01-06 06:09 pm (UTC)Re: Martine Loser King
From:Re: Martine Loser King
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From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:08 pm (UTC)he:why haven't you died yet?
solbi:if i really died,would you be happy?
he:no,i was only saying it casually.why are you so sensitive?
solbi:because of your casual words,i might really kill myself,so please don't say such things
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 06:10 pm (UTC)makes me so proud to be human. -.-;;
no subject
Date: 2010-01-07 12:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 06:10 pm (UTC)i wouldn't want to be on their bad side ... and jay again!
really all a bunch of cowards... :x
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:15 pm (UTC)There were people who went to Sungmin (SJ)'s cyworld before and said really mean stuff to.
------------
I find it disturbing how people can just say, "Oh, maybe that loser girl will just commit suicide."- are they even human? Since when was a person's life taken so lightly.
Really disturbing.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:17 pm (UTC).i like her well writing letter bc she's unbiased about 2pm but care about jay as human:)
http://www.2pm-online.com/eng.php?subaction=showfull&id=1262763410&ucat=&archive=&start_from=&
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 07:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 06:17 pm (UTC)Knetizens are seriously irritating.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:21 pm (UTC)why the fuck would anyone say that? that's horrible. and cyber bullying is definitely nothing new in Korea - or anywhere else. netizens/antis have been going all out for a long time. some of them just go way too far.
anyway, I guess its time to deactivate my facebook?
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:35 pm (UTC)I've already got some of your personal pictures/garden.
PLUS
Baby pics with Chansung.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:23 pm (UTC)Of course this isn't just a Korean problem.
But this is a country where any vestige of individuality is quickly squashed, perfection is somehow seen as an attainable goal, and you have approximately zero leisure time outside of long, long hours of school/work. People need to find a way to vent out those everyday frustrations. To hate and destroy takes more energy and thus more easily, if only temporarily, eases those frustrations and stresses.
It's like nearly an entire country is stuck with the mentality of a middle school girl, 100 times more stress, and internet accessibility. Of course, it's a recipe for disaster. They're anonymous, and so are the people they're bullying. They are just an "other" who has no meaning to them. And if hundreds or even thousands of others are doing it, perhaps you don't think it's "right" but since everyone else is doing it, you just go along with the flow without even thinking twice about it.
Add on to this the fact that the Korean media treats netizen comments and actions as news worthy. Suddenly, doing all of these bad things online gives you power and in an indirect way, recognition. So, if you participate in this internet witch hunt, you in some twisted way, gain the recognition you can't get in your non-wired life as you struggle to meet society's demands.
The victims, faced with so many tormentors and public defamation and media attention, and most likely with no education about their legal rights have very little they can do, besides flight, either in the form of hiding or suicide. They don't have the resources to fight. They've grown up in a society that teaches them that they shouldn't fight against the status quo, and that suicide is a viable option to life issues.
In exactly what other country does this scenario even sound plausible?
*note: this of course doesn't apply to every single Korean, it's called a generalization for a reason.*
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-06 06:26 pm (UTC)Still, these netizens need to get a fucking life. That "loser" situation was way blown out of proportion. People should know by now that some girls just prefer taller guys...its not like she was talking for all the females out their. I'm not trying to defend her or anything but they shouldn't get offended so easily about one freakin opinion.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-07 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:28 pm (UTC)No body in Korea can have an opinion against the mainstream without getting flamed for it. It's stupid. Everyone has opinions. And everyone's free to make them
as long as they are not racist or sexist or prejudicial in some way. I think socially, Korea's going to be behind a lot of countries in terms of free speech and civil rights for a whileno subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-07 07:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:32 pm (UTC)what is wrong with these people? are they devoid of any human feelings?
I hate how most of these netizens don't even care how their words might affect others. they're harsher because they know the celebrities might read their comments, it's disgusting really
no subject
Date: 2010-01-06 06:45 pm (UTC)i was scared when i watched that, because she was talking about killing her unborn babies with a smile. but i'm from a country where abortion is illegal and deemed immoral so maybe that's why.
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Date: 2010-01-06 06:39 pm (UTC)