The National police agency plans to have 900 officers hunting down these ‘criminals’.
SEOUL - South Korean police plan a crackdown on people who spread malicious rumours on the internet, a practice they blame for last week’s suicide of a local actress.
The National Police Agency said it would have 900 officers investigating online as part of a month-long operation beginning tomorrow to hunt, arrest and punish those who spread false and vicious rumours on the internet.
The agency said in a statement “the spread of malicious and groundless messages on the internet recently led to their victim’s suicide”, referring to the death of Choi Jin-sil on Thursday.
Choi, 40, a mother of two, was found hanging from a length of elastic at her Seoul home. Police concluded she had committed suicide.
Police investigators, citing her relatives and friends, said Choi had been in agony over internet rumours that she had lent a huge sum of money to a local actor who killed himself in early September under heavy debts.
Police found no monetary links between Choi and the actor. A security worker was arrested for spreading false rumours about her online.
Investigators said the case had worsened Choi’s depression.
Choi had been on medication for depression since her marriage to a pro baseball player ended in an ugly divorce in 2004, according to police.- Brisbane Times
The suicide of Choi Jin-sil was a tragedy. Does the NPA really think they can stop all rumor mongering on the internet or is this announcement just some South Korean PR move? The spreading of rumors and gossip is a practice as old as man. That it takes place on the internet now is just the latest wrinkle. Where instead of a few people hearing the rumors, the total can be in the thousands or millions.
I think the NPA’s announcement is PR. Like those instances in the US where a politician(s) proposes a new law after some horrifying incident. Authorities want the public to believe something is being done to prevent another tragedy. I’ve spent little time in South Korea(4 days back in 1989) but that is what I think is happening here.
Popularity: 1%
6:38 am on October 13th, 2008 1
Where was this when all the anti-American, pro-Nork a$$clowns were spreading rumors and lies during the cows gone wild mania?
9:06 am on October 13th, 2008 2
Can you image if we had a law like that in the US? Then the election politics would actually have to resort to discussing issues.
9:08 am on October 13th, 2008 3
image = imagine
9:42 pm on October 13th, 2008 4
This is a case of absurdity to the Nth power.
Many of us old foggies lived through the USENET days long, long ago where “flame wars” resulted in aome of the most obscene name-calling imaginable. Moderation of specified groups provided some relief, but the question arose of whether even moderation amounted to censorship. There were long discussions on newsgroups for years over this topic as it applies to the world internet arena. In the end, there was nothing that was ever agreed on. There are too many people with too many opinions on this sensitive issue.
The Koreans are looking at this as a LOCAL problem, but is it? The user types in a libelous comment and presses “send.” The message moves electronically over an INTERNATIONAL internet ether to be posted to a server that is physically located in Korea. The content of that server can be seen INTERNATIONALLY over the internet — meaning it is NOT a LOCAL issue.
Isn’t this actually an attempt by the Korean government to CENSOR the INTERNATIONAL internet? I know that most the readers couldn’t read hangul, but what about the rights of that Korean-AMERICAN in Cincinatti, OH who reads the website. Hasn’t his AMERICAN “rights” been abridged — although it is in another country? Doesn’t this user in America have the right to sue the ROK government for censoring his right to information in America?
The absurdity could go on forever.
The ROK government is looking at this as though the Internet is the same as a locally published newspaper (i.e., GNP sued (and lost) the GNP for libel). The Internet is not local…it is international. The information the government wants to censor is NOT on a LAN in a closed information loop. It is information that is broadcast to the world. Thus this legislation is in fact an attempt to legislate the world’s internet. For a country that is the #1 wired nation of the world, this is a very naive bit of legislation — a futile attempt by LMB to rein in the Daum Cafe folks — and appease the public hysteria over suicides.
9:47 pm on October 13th, 2008 5
Whoops — GNP sued (and lost) the GNP for libel. Mistake…
GNP sued the Hankyoreh over false attacks on LMB during the Presidential race and lost as the attacks didn’t harm the GNP personally — only LMB.
2:42 am on October 14th, 2008 6
this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard!
oh wait its korea nevermind
5:37 am on October 14th, 2008 7
Idea has merit. The internet should be held to the same standards as other public media - such as newspapers.
6:29 am on October 14th, 2008 8
This is about basic cultural differences.
Most westerners are raised to not be as sensitive to insult and gossip. Remember the ‘Sticks and Stones’ proverb we learned as kids. Anyone who wants to be a celebrity or public figure could expect the paparazzi stalkers and tabloid coverage. Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Princess Di had to suck it up.
Koreans were raised the opposite way. Saving face (ki-bun) is extremely important to them. Shame is worse than death to many.
Then there is the whole freedom of speech aspect to western democratic cultures. In the USA, if someone insults me and I beat them up, then I committed the crime, not them. In Korea an insults is considered legitimate cause for physical retaliation.
Still, I do believe the Koreans are naive if they think they can fully enforce this. They will probably just end up driving more Koreans away from their domestic portals sites to overseas gossip sites. Then they would have to take the next step, like the Chinese, and have to start blocking access to those overseas sites.
9:57 am on October 14th, 2008 9
“South Korean police plan a crackdown on people who spread malicious rumours on the internet, a practice they blame for last week’s suicide of a local actress.”
dumb
3:33 pm on October 14th, 2008 10
I plan to stop malicious online gossip about whingey losers who would take me seriously and off themselves…
OTOH, I still plan on calling them whingey losers to their faces…
May each of us have the wisdom to avoid suicide over unfounded slurs by nameless faceless online cowards…