"Pain of Hurtful Comments Hard to Speak of"... Cheerleader's Tears

Inescapable Prison 'Cyberbullying'

<Part 1> Age, Gender, Occupation Don't Matter

Online Harassment Increasingly Expands
"Hard to Endure" Pleas Ignored
Extreme Choices Due to Malicious Comments and Rumors
66% of Adults Also Experience Cyber Violence

[Asia Economy Reporters Byungseon Gong, Sehee Jang]"Their eyes are fierce. Their face is ugly. Their body is fat. Why is that person standing next to 000?"

On the 9th, famous cheerleader Ms. A (30) shared with Asia Economy the malicious comments she had received, expressing her difficulties. Due to the nature of her job, Ms. A mainly received sexually related malicious comments. Recently, she considered taking strong legal action but ultimately decided not to sue due to the cost burden and time required.

Recently, a famous volleyball player and an internet BJ (Broadcast Jockey) have made extreme choices due to 'cyberbullying' (online harassment). As the targets and methods of cyberbullying, which used to be mainly among teenagers, have diversified and evolved, there are calls for institutional improvements and strengthening ethical awareness to block defamation and slander against specific individuals.

In fact, on the 4th, professional volleyball player Kim Inhyuk was found dead at his home, and on the 5th, internet broadcaster BJ Jammi took an extreme step. At the time, Kim posted that it was "hard to endure" as he was tormented by malicious comments from unknown people, and BJ Jammi was also revealed to have suffered from depression due to malicious comments and rumors before passing away. Earlier, YouTuber Ppeokga, who has 1.2 million subscribers, identified BJ Jammi as a feminist and incited cyberbullying from specific communities such as FM Korea.

Cyber defamation and insult cases increased by 16.4% in one year... Prominent among people in their 20s

Cases of online harassment are increasing every year. According to the National Police Agency statistics, the number of cyber defamation and insult cases rose from 16,644 in 2019 to 19,377 in 2020, an increase of 16.4% in one year.

By age group, the proportion of people in their 20s was the highest. In 2020, 4,795 people in their 20s were arrested for defamation and insult, which is significantly higher compared to teenagers (1,461) and people in their 30s (4,314).

The experience rate of cyber violence (students and adults, perpetrators and victims) is also increasing. According to the '2020 Cyber Violence Survey Results' announced by the Korea Communications Commission on the 4th, the experience rate of cyber violence among adults was 65.8%, up 11.1 percentage points from 54.7% the previous year. The most common type of cyber violence experienced by both perpetrators and victims was verbal abuse. Among adults, in addition to verbal abuse, various types of cyber violence such as defamation, stalking, sexual violence, personal information leakage, and ostracism were reported.

Cases of stalking, sexual violence, and personal information leakage also diverse... Experts say "People must feel ethical shame themselves"

Experts agree that improving civic awareness is the most urgent task. Heo Minsook, a researcher at the National Assembly Legislative Research Office, said, "Organized cyberbullying targeting one person pushes vulnerable people out of the public sphere and induces them to self-destruct. Although legal action is difficult due to potential infringement on freedom of expression, citizens must act to make them feel ethical shame themselves."

Professor Song Jaeryong of Kyung Hee University's Department of Sociology also said, "If we try to universalize extremely heinous specific cases to block potential incidents in advance, it could cause serious problems in a liberal democratic society. Since freedom of expression is a constitutional premise, it is desirable to focus on voluntary self-regulation."

Meanwhile, seven cyberbullying-related bills, including the 'Partial Amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection,' are still pending in the National Assembly.