Futurize Korea

One of South Korea’s most famous actresses was found dead in her home on Thursday in what the police called a suicide. They linked her death to malicious online rumors, a growing social problem in South Korea, which has one of the world’s most active online communities and one of its highest suicide rates.

Korea was shocked by the death of a famous actress last week and the role of malicious online rumours on her decision to commit suicide.

But while the government has decided to respond by proposing new legislation to fight these malicious online attacks, there are concerns that these new laws will curtail free speech. There are also suspicions with any legislation dealing with the Internet since online messages boards were a central rallying point to organize demonstrations against the government during the summer.

The Korean government has also re-raised the issue of limiting online anonymity as a way to tackle this problem.

Just today, the Korean Police Agency dedicated a new team of investigators to investigate malicious online rumors:

Police said Sunday that they will mobilize hundreds of investigators to crack down on bloggers and other Internet users posting slanderous and insulting messages or starting false rumors over the next one month.

Targeted Internet users are: those spreading false rumors or writing malicious comments about individuals or groups; those threatening others through online guest boards or emails; and those causing fear to others by stalking them online.

After investigating how seriously their malicious messages damaged the victims, police will pursue and apprehend those who habitually post maliciously. They will file for arrest warrants and take other action against those who are active in Internet bullying and defamation.

In May 2007, the New York Times ran another article that looked at how the Internet in Korea was being used as an instructional tool and gathering place for people wanting to commit suicide. The article also mentioned the response from the government and portals to the problem:

Since 2005, Web portals, acting under pressure from civic groups, have banned words like suicide and death from the names of blogs. If a user keys in “suicide,” search engines display links to counseling centers at the top of their search results.

Also in 2005, the Korea Internet Safety Commission, a government watchdog on cyberspace, ordered the removal of 566 blogs, chat groups and Web postings that encouraged suicide, up sharply from 93 cases a year earlier. The figure declined to 147 in 2006 and rose again to 161 in the first four months of this year.

Chang has posted his thoughts on the complicated issues surrounding the response to her death.

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