Comments that kill
The recent suicide of K-pop singer and actress Sulli has highlighted one of the chronic problems in the world’s most wired country — online hate comments.
She had been the “representative” celebrity when it comes to hate comments. While it is common for celebrities and entertainers to get malicious comments from detractors and online trolls, she suffered from more vicious attacks, mostly from men, after expressing her support for feminism and her choice not to wear a bra.
Floods of hate comments fueled her depression, panic disorder and sociophobia. She had to have a break from her singing career due to her suffering. But she was brave, confronting her attackers and continuing to express her opinion, even co-hosting a TV show where celebrities spoke about abusive comments they received.
However, she could not overcome the pressure and committed suicide.
Sulli was not the first: There have been numerous celebrities who committed suicide after suffering from online hate comments made under the protection of anonymity.
And celebrities are not the only ones experiencing online malicious comments: Such comments can also devastate ordinary citizens, under the name of cyberbullying, and this kind of cyberbullying is usually made by acquaintances. There have been also cases where teenagers were bullied in group chats by their classmates, who harass the targets and spread false rumors about them, and some of the victims have committed suicide.
The government, however, doesn’t seem to realize the seriousness of the issue.
In a press conference in early 2018, President Moon Jae-in received a question from a reporter, who said Moon supporters bombarded his articles that were critical of government policy with malicious comments. Although the reporter was from a conservative vernacular daily which is usually against everything Moon promotes and he probably had gained more hate comments than reporters of other media outlets, it was a common complaint among all reporters, either from conservative or liberal media outlets, because any small criticism of Moon’s policy could not avoid such comments from his supporters.
But Moon’s answer was disappointing.
Saying he probably is the top among politicians in terms of receiving online malicious comments, the President said, “Whether they have the same opinion (as yours) or not, I think you can just regard the comments, with equanimity, as people’s expression of an opinion. I don’t think you need to be that sensitive.”
I had been covering presidential affairs at the time, and expected him to at least speak out about the evils of hate comments in general. I expected him to say that, whether such comments are related to politics or not, and whether they are made by his supporters or opponents, abusive comments are a social problem and people need to refrain from making them. But his remark meant hate comments are a fact of life that the reporter and other people just need to endure them and it is up to the individual’s mental strength.
By saying so, he sided with people making hate comments and tacitly encouraged them — indeed, after the conference, the reporter who asked the question received floods of malicious comments from Moon supporters again.
While the government may have underestimated the seriousness of the issue, Sulli’s death has prompted citizens and companies to reflect on online discourse and act on their own.
Multiple petitions have been posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, calling for strengthened punishment for people posting malicious comments and establishment of a system obliging people to disclose their identities when making online comments.
Daum, the nation’s second-largest portal, decided to temporarily close down comment sections on entertainment news pages, which have been the “playground” of people who post abusive comments about celebrities.
The Sunfull Foundation, a nonprofit organization that spearheads the anti-cyberbullying movement, partnered with a lawmaker to submit a bill to require schools to provide at least one hour of instruction against cyberbullying and hate comments.
The government needs to respond to these moves. This may be the best time to set up relevant regulations and take countermeasures, as a public consensus for preventing abusive online activities is forming. It is more than what one individual can deal with. The writer (rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr) is a City Desk editor at The Korea Times.