 Andrea Vandom leads an effort to have Naver portal remove what she sees as racially-biased heresay in a blog. |
Staff Reporter
Korea's No.1 Web portal Naver has started to look into a letter of complaint from a foreign English lecturer over a blog that many Western English teachers called "xenophobic." NHN, the operator of Naver.com told The Korea Times Wednesday they were examining whether the blog "Anti-English Spectrum" posted material that violated the company's user agreement.
Andrea Vandom sent a letter to the company's CEO claiming that the online community, which is also called the "Citizen's Movement to Expel Illegal Teachers of Foreign Languages" with over 17,000 members, violates Korean Law and Naver blog's operating principles.
"Considering NHN's obvious commitment to being an international and diverse corporation, it is very difficult to understand how NHN can offer its services as a communications network to a racial hate group," she said in the letter. Vandom has already filed a petition with the Constitutional Court against E-2 visa regulations that require native English teacher applicants to undergo AIDS/HIV and drug tests.
In the letter, she requested the NHN to remove articles saying foreigners are targeting Korean children in order to molest them and that some foreigners are seeking to infect Koreans with AIDS or other diseases.
She also called for deletion of content that involves vigilante activities such as the tracking or stalking of foreigners and those promoting racial hatred.
While looking into the case, the Naver operator made it clear that the company is free from any kind of valuation. "For example, if somebody posts that you are a molester and you want to delete the posting. Then, we can remove it, even if you really are a molester," said Won Yoo-sik, a spokesman for the company. "Also, if the poster writer is unhappy with this and requests us to restore the posting, we could do so."
He noted that group complaints would carry more weight, adding in this case an individual complained about posts regarding native English teachers, and said he was unsure whether the company would do something in response.
Although the Association for Teachers of English in Korea (ATEK) has expressed support for Vandom in her move against the online community, the group has not as yet taken any action.
ATEK also supported an earlier move by Benjamin Wagner, a professor of Kyung Hee University, when he submitted a complaint to the Human Rights Commission of Korea over the E-2 visa regulations.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
