"Serious Defamation of Athletes' Honor" Naver and Kakao Abolish Comments on Sports News (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Following Naver, Kakao will also temporarily suspend the comment service on sports news. After the late female volleyball player Go Yumin's tragic death, demands to abolish sports news comments have emerged in many places, prompting the two major domestic portals to take such measures.

On the 7th, Kakao stated, "Malicious comments that disparage and defame specific players, teams, or regions have continuously occurred in sports news comments," adding, "Based on careful consideration and preparation to fulfill our social responsibility, we will temporarily suspend comments on sports news."

Kakao plans to prepare various measures during the suspension of sports news comments.

Kakao intends to enhance its profanity and vulgar language replacement function, AI-based malicious comment filtering technology, and recommended comment service, which have been in operation since 2017. Additionally, the reporting and sanction system for users posting malicious comments will be further strengthened.

Moreover, Kakao is discussing the direction of service development with a media advisory committee composed of external experts. In the future, based on ongoing research on online hate speech conducted with the National Human Rights Commission and the Korean Association for Media and Law, Kakao plans to establish practical measures to precisely analyze and block malicious comments.

A Kakao representative said, "We will strive to make the comment service a space for free communication and support without anyone getting hurt," adding, "We will expand user participation and influence to foster a healthy online ecosystem."

Meanwhile, Naver announced on the morning of the same day that it would temporarily suspend comments on sports news. Naver stated, "The pain of players hurt by comments targeting and disparaging certain players has exceeded a level that can be overlooked," and announced the temporary suspension of comments.

The live talk feature for real-time messages to cheering teams and players during sports broadcasts will be maintained as is. However, AI Clean Bot 2.0 will be applied to filter out abusive and malicious content.

AI Clean Bot 2.0 will also be introduced to Naver TV, where various video creators produce content beyond sports, and channel operators will be granted the authority to toggle the comment section ON or OFF.

A Naver representative said, "Naver is closely analyzing the types of comments frequently found in sports services and is developing technology to automatically control the exposure of malicious comments," adding, "During the suspension of comments, we will enhance this technology, and once its effectiveness is guaranteed, we will resume discussions on lifting the comment suspension."