Deaths of athlete, streamer ignite calls for harsher punishments for internet trolling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyberbullying has yet again cut the lives of an athlete and a Twitch streamer short last week.

Kim In-hyeok, 28, a professional volleyball player of the Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs, was found dead at his home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday. Police concluded that there was no evidence of foul play related to Kim's death, Saturday.

Kim has vented about psychological damage from internet trolling via social media since last year. He wrote, "I thought I had better ignore decade-long misunderstandings around me, but I am tired of it. Please stop. The malicious comments have harassed me for years ― I can't stand it anymore."

He was referring to criticisms of his appearance, as well as rumors about his sexuality and claims that he appeared in pornography that have mushroomed on the internet.

Cho Jang-mi, 27, also known as BJ Jammi, a Twitch streamer at CJ's creator management agency Dia TV, was also found dead recently. She had been reeling from the trauma of internet trolling, according to a member of her family, Sunday.

Cho's bereaved family member who identified himself as her uncle wrote on her Twitch page, Saturday, "Jang-mi has suffered serious depression from malicious comments and rumors, which led her to suicide." The family will take legal action against the accusers responsible for the spread of rumors and misinformation about Cho, he wrote.

Cho entered the media platform as a game streaming creator in 2019 and had over 290,000 subscribers on Twitch and YouTube combined. She has been accused of being a "feminist" by internet users from male-dominant online communities such as DC Inside and FM Korea and suffered extreme emotional distress from cyberbullying.

In May 2020, Cho said her mother who helped her manage the comments section took her own life due to the bombardment of malicious comments and appealed to internet users to stop the vicious insults.

Their death saddened internet users. "The vicious comments killed people, please stop," one wrote. Another wrote, "All these haters are responsible for their deaths and deserve punishment."

According to the information network law, malicious commentators could be subject to up to three years in jail or fines up to 30 million won ($25,010) for defamation. In addition, the law allows for up to seven years in jail and fines up to 50 million won for contempt, the act of defaming someone directly by saying something insulting to the person.

 

Words in the story:

 

Cyberbullying - n the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (such as a student) often done anonymously

vented- v to provide with a vent; discharge, expel;  to give often vigorous or emotional expression to

malicious-adj having or showing a desire to cause harm to someone: given to, marked by, or arising from malice

bombardment - n to assail vigorously or persistently (as with questions); o attack especially with artillery or bombers.

defamation- n : the act of communicating false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person : the act of defaming another:L Calumny

 

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https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/02/251_323370.html