To understand this article as a Singaporean, you’d have to understand the basics of defamation laws in both Singapore and South Korea.
So, basically, if I publish an article that claims that BuffLord95 killed five cats in Yishun and that’s untrue, BuffLord95 can sue me for damages. The judge will then decide if he’s right and how much I need to pay BuffLord95.
As you can see, in all defamation cases, it’s a civil case between two individuals, so there can’t be any “punishment” like a jail term or caning.
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So you’d be wondering: if that’s the case, shouldn’t Sunny sue the netizen instead, and the netizen merely need to pay for damages?
Here’s when it’s a tad different in Korea.
Korea’s Basic Defamation Laws
Over in Korea, defamation is treated like a crime. Under Article 307 of the nation’s criminal law, a person who defames another person by disclosing a fact to the public could face two years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won (~S$5,787)
In other words, if I’ve defamed BuffLord95 in Korea, I might go to jail instead of just paying him.
It’s a law that the relatively new president is looking to change, but anyways.
With the recent Sulli’s demise, which has been allegedly linked to harassment by netizens, this law might just stay put to ensure that there’d be no repeat of the unfortunate incident.
And this latest case proved how much of a deterrence it can be.
Girls’ Generation Sunny’s ‘Victory’ Against Netizen
Sunny, a Girls’ Generation member (now known as Girls’ Generation-Oh!GG), has just shown that online harassment isn’t tolerated in Korea.
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Last year, a netizen posted this message on an online forum: “Lee Seo Jin and Sunny were in a special relationship while filming a variety show. All of the staff also knew.”
While both parties are single, it’s still a malicious rumour.
The judge also agreed that it’s a malicious rumour on a platform with high traffic, and such irresponsible act has harmful consequences for the victims. The court said that the netizen has “spread false information about celebrities’ personal lives on a website with over one million users. In light of the danger, we saw the necessity for severe punishment.”
The punishment? Six months’ jail.
However, the netizen would only need to go for two years of probation, and will only serve the six months in prison if found guilty of violating certain conditions. He also need to do 80 hours of community service for defamation.
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In the past, some people have criticised the laws, but this time, some people were apparently asking for more punishment.
And we might see more of such cases.
K-Pop Stars Declared War on Trolls
Upon Sulli’s death, several K-pop stars believed that enough is enough: instead of silently receiving troll messages, they’re reporting them to the authorities.
And as you can tell from now, the authorities might just have to hunt down those trolls.
So, what do you think? Is this a knee-jerk reaction or a problem that should have been solved yesterday?
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Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
