[Chamtrue?] Is It Possible to Punish Malicious Comments and Star Rating Terrorism at Restaurants?

Malicious Consumers Threatening Small Business Owners with Ratings and Comments
Reviews Can Be Punished, but Punishment Likelihood Decreases if Only Ratings Are Left
"Difficult for Small Business Owners to Resolve Alone... Self-Regulation Needed Within Delivery Apps"

"One whole chicken, please divide it into three different flavors." "The ingredients are cheap, so please add a lot." These are examples of malicious consumers that self-employed business owners often encounter in the delivery application (delivery app) market. These consumers make excessive demands on self-employed owners or even ask them to do tasks outside of their business, such as grocery shopping at supermarkets. Nevertheless, self-employed owners find it difficult to refuse easily due to fear of star rating attacks.

As star ratings or comments became active on delivery apps, some consumers have been abusing these systems. They threaten self-employed owners or carry out retaliatory star rating attacks. Consequently, more self-employed owners are asking about the possibility of punishment for malicious comments or star rating attacks. Can the current legal system punish malicious consumers on delivery apps?

Malicious Reviews Correspond to 'Defamation and Obstruction of Business,' but... Star Rating Attacks Are Difficult to Prove as Crimes

Leaving defamatory reviews that are factually incorrect, i.e., malicious comments, can constitute defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act. In such cases, malicious consumers can be punished with imprisonment of up to 7 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW. Additionally, it may also fall under obstruction of business, punishable by imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 15 million KRW. In fact, the delivery app company Baedal Minjok has filed a lawsuit for obstruction of business against businesses that wrote malicious or false reviews.

However, if only star rating attacks are left without any explanation, it is different. Because it is difficult to prove a crime, it is hard to apply defamation or obstruction of business charges. Kwon Jaesung, the lead attorney at OneTop Law Office, explained, "It is difficult to establish defamation or obstruction of business because bad star ratings can be seen as based on actual customer experiences intended to help others," adding, "Whether it has a public interest aspect is key." However, Attorney Kwon added, "If star rating attacks are continuous, they may also fall under defamation or obstruction of business."

If malicious comments or star rating attacks are used to demand compensation, it may constitute attempted coercion or attempted extortion. This applies when the consumer directly visits to demand a refund or damage compensation. In a meat restaurant in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, a pastor and her daughter caused a disturbance demanding a refund and then verbally abused the restaurant owner via phone calls and text messages. They claimed in court, "Nowadays, it is acceptable to give a 1-star rating or bad reviews on delivery apps, so it is unfair to call it abuse," but were found guilty of attempted extortion.

Attorney Kwon said, "There needs to be functions such as blocking when reported on delivery apps," and added, "This is a problem that self-employed owners cannot solve alone and must be self-regulated within the delivery apps through legal measures."