A bill to strengthen penalties against so-called 'cyber wreckers' who profit economically by spreading false information on the YouTube platform has been proposed.
On the 24th, Go Dong-jin, a member of the People Power Party, announced that he submitted the 'Cyber Wrecker Prevention Act' with such content to the National Assembly. The term cyber wrecker, a neologism likened to a wrecker truck, refers to YouTubers, community users, and others who spread unverified rumors on online platforms, increase views with provocative content, and gather subscribers.
The Cyber Wrecker Prevention Act submitted by Representative Go consists of two parts. First, the 'Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Korea Communications Commission' amendment requires domestic and foreign operators such as YouTube to establish systems to prevent the distribution of illegal information, fake news, and other false information. Also, users can directly request content deletion, and if the operator does not comply, a fine of up to 3 billion KRW may be imposed on the operator.
Along with this, the 'Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection' amendment is a bill that significantly strengthens penalties against cyber wreckers and malicious post authors. In cases of defamation by stating facts, the current penalty of 'imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW' will be strengthened to 'imprisonment for up to 7 years or a fine of up to 200 million KRW.' In cases of defamation by stating false facts, the penalty level will be raised to 'imprisonment for up to 15 years, disqualification for up to 15 years, or a fine of up to 1.5 billion KRW.'
Representative Go explained the background of the bill, saying, "Some YouTubers and malicious netizens indiscriminately engage in witch-hunt-style slander and hate incitement targeting specific individuals, causing ongoing social conflicts." He added, "Those who suffer from this experience severe mental distress or even extreme choices, and such incidents continue to occur."
He emphasized, "While imposing responsibility on operators to solve these problems, we must also establish strict legal order by raising corresponding penalties according to the principle of accountability for malicious cyber wreckers and some netizens who cause indiscriminate harm."
Meanwhile, according to the National Police Agency, cases reported for cyber defamation and insult were ▲19,388 in 2020 ▲28,988 in 2021 ▲29,258 in 2022, showing a continuous increase, but ▲24,252 in 2023, showing a slight decrease. The number of arrests steadily increased as ▲12,638 in 2020 ▲17,243 in 2021 ▲18,242 in 2022 ▲20,390 in 2023.
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