Actor Choi Jin-young carries the portrait of his sister Choi Jin-sil out of Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul for a funeral service, Saturday. The top actress' cremated remains were placed in a cemetery in Yangsuri, Gyeonggi Province. / Korea Times Photo by Choi Heung-soo |
Political Parties Divided Over Legislation to Punish Cyber-Bullying
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police said they will seek arrest warrants for people habitually posting malicious comments on the Internet, stepping up a crackdown on slander in cyberspace.
The scheme comes amid concerns that cyber bullying has gone beyond a tolerable level, with the late actress Choi Jin-sil allegedly being the latest in a series of victims of malicious comments on the Internet.
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.
Police will also request portal site operators to strengthen monitoring on cyber bullying and remove malicious postings.
``We advise victims of online rumors to actively deal with them to prevent further spread. They need to secure evidence, submit it to police, and ask portal operators to remove such messages,'' a police officer at the National Police Agency said.
Hunt for Rumor Spreader
In the meantime, police are investigating to find who first spread rumors about Choi that linked her to the death of another actor Ahn Jae-hwan. It was rumored that Choi lent 2.5 billion won to Ahn, who killed himself allegedly after failing to pay back billions of debt. Before committing suicide, Choi asked police to catch the rumor spreaders.
Police are investigating a securities company worker for posting the rumors on the Internet. But the employee said she received the rumor from another worker, who testified that he also obtained it from another man through online chatting.
The investigation is expected to expand to the brokerage industry as analysts are collecting gossip about politicians, entertainers and top corporate executives and spreading it to their clients. Most of this information usually spreads to the Internet eventually.
Choi's death prompted the ruling Grand National Party to push for the ``Cyber Slander Law'' to punish those who insult others with their malicious online comments. It plans to seek parliamentary approval for the bill at a session this fall.
Opposition parties are denouncing the move as it could undermine the freedom of speech. The main opposition Democratic Party is claiming that the ruling party is attempting to remove anti-government postings.
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