Over 7,000 Sexual Crime Reports Posted on Overseas Platforms from January to March This Year
Only 30% Deleted Despite Requests for Self-Regulation
Overseas Platforms Remain a 'Blind Spot'
Helpless Even if a Second N-bunbang Emerges
[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] It has been confirmed that more than 7,000 pieces of digital sexual crime content similar to the Telegram 'n번방' were uploaded on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook from January to March this year alone. However, the deletion rate is only about 30% on average, meaning that most harmful content is exposed without filtering.
According to the Korea Communications Standards Commission on the 28th, from January 1 to March 19 this year, the commission requested cooperation from overseas operators for a total of 7,310 cases of digital sexual crime information. The targeted operators include five companies: Google, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Among the self-regulation request information, there are many contents that sexually exploit minors or children or perform so-called 'acquaintance humiliation' through synthesis.
Jo Joo-bin, the operator of the 'Doctor's Room' who threatened dozens of women including minors on the internet messenger Telegram and forced them to film obscene materials which he then distributed, is coming out of Jongno Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 25th to be sent to the prosecution. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
The problem is that overseas operators, who are not subject to domestic laws, do not accept the regulatory requests from our government. According to Park Kwang-on, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, only 32% of digital sexual crime materials were deleted by overseas internet platform operators such as Google and Twitter after receiving requests from the commission.
However, as videos or images of sexual crimes increase every year, the number of self-regulation requests is also rising. According to the commission, the number of self-regulation cases requested to operators surged from 955 in 2015 to 1,100 in 2016, 7,309 in 2017, 8,173 in 2018, and 10,119 in 2019.
Kang Sang-hyun, chairman of the commission, stated at the emergency briefing on the n번방 incident held on the 25th, "It is necessary to legislate to make it mandatory for overseas operators to accept correction requests related to digital sexual crime materials and delete or block them."
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