By Min Byoung-chul
May 23 was the first No Hate Comments Day, a day where I was asking everyone to try and avoid posting messages on the internet that include words of hate toward others.
In this non-face-to-face, post-pandemic, hyper-connected society we are now living in, more and more online users are posting messages attacking others.
Social media sites, internet comment sections, and instant messaging applications have made it easier for children, teenagers and adults to attack others, to cyberbully others that they don't like, for many reasons.
Students attack other students, telling them they are ugly and stupid. People attack celebrities, criticizing their appearance. Many people disparage others, often just to make themselves feel superior.
Malicious comments are not something new, but the internet with its ability to quickly spread messages and in great volume has generated the ability for people to easily be cyberbullied, to be attacked by thousands of strangers, 24-hours a day.
It was just such an online attack in 2007, which drove a Korean celebrity to take her own life that inspired me to seek a way to counterbalance the negative comments and attacks on the internet. I decided to give a homework assignment to the 570 students who were taking my class at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.
The assignment was to post one positive comment on the websites of 10 different celebrities where hateful comments were being posted. This resulted in 5,700 positive comments being posted online within one week.
As word spread of the assignment I had given my students and the encouragement I received to continue the effort, plus my own observation of the change in my students' attitude about malicious comments, I decided to create the Sunfull Foundation and launch what has become known as the Sunfull Internet Peace Movement to promote civility in cyberspace through the posting of positive comments.
We held the launch ceremony on May 23, 2007, which is why we are now designating every May 23 as No Hate Comments Day.
For the past 15 years, our foundation has been encouraging the posting of positive comments, working with hundreds of thousands of people to send millions of messages of hope and encouragement to the victims of cyberbullying and hate speech, as well as to those who have suffered from natural disasters and tragic global incidents.
Currently our foundation has 825,183 members who have posted more than 9.6 million positive comments online.
In addition to encouraging the posting of positive messages, to recognize and support those who are working to bring peace to the internet, I established in 2018 the Internet Peace Prize (internetpeaceprize.org). This prize is awarded to those who have contributed to world peace by countering cyberbullying, hate speech, and human rights violations on the internet.
On No Hate Comments Day, I encourage everyone around the globe to join together and raise awareness against this deadly pandemic of cyberbullying that is spreading like a virus on the internet. The cure to fixing this problem is the vaccine of positive thinking, encouraging words and uplifting messages.
I am asking everyone on every May 23 going forward, to observe one day where they post no hateful comments, to observe No Hate Comments Day, to raise awareness of the impact of hateful comments and to encourage everyone to not post or use malicious, hateful comments.
Dr. Min Byoung-chul, an endowed-chair professor at Chung-Ang University, is the founder and chairman of the Sunfull Foundation, which sponsors the Sunfull Internet Peace Movement and the Internet Peace Prize, and is an active advocate for promoting peace and the prevention of human rights violation on the internet.
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In this non-face-to-face, post-pandemic, hyper-connected society we are now living in, more and more online users are posting messages attacking others.
Social media sites, internet comment sections, and instant messaging applications have made it easier for children, teenagers and adults to attack others, to cyberbully others that they don't like, for many reasons.
Students attack other students, telling them they are ugly and stupid. People attack celebrities, criticizing their appearance. Many people disparage others, often just to make themselves feel superior.
Malicious comments are not something new, but the internet with its ability to quickly spread messages and in great volume has generated the ability for people to easily be cyberbullied, to be attacked by thousands of strangers, 24-hours a day.
It was just such an online attack in 2007, which drove a Korean celebrity to take her own life that inspired me to seek a way to counterbalance the negative comments and attacks on the internet. I decided to give a homework assignment to the 570 students who were taking my class at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.
The assignment was to post one positive comment on the websites of 10 different celebrities where hateful comments were being posted. This resulted in 5,700 positive comments being posted online within one week.
As word spread of the assignment I had given my students and the encouragement I received to continue the effort, plus my own observation of the change in my students' attitude about malicious comments, I decided to create the Sunfull Foundation and launch what has become known as the Sunfull Internet Peace Movement to promote civility in cyberspace through the posting of positive comments.
We held the launch ceremony on May 23, 2007, which is why we are now designating every May 23 as No Hate Comments Day.
For the past 15 years, our foundation has been encouraging the posting of positive comments, working with hundreds of thousands of people to send millions of messages of hope and encouragement to the victims of cyberbullying and hate speech, as well as to those who have suffered from natural disasters and tragic global incidents.
Currently our foundation has 825,183 members who have posted more than 9.6 million positive comments online.
In addition to encouraging the posting of positive messages, to recognize and support those who are working to bring peace to the internet, I established in 2018 the Internet Peace Prize (internetpeaceprize.org). This prize is awarded to those who have contributed to world peace by countering cyberbullying, hate speech, and human rights violations on the internet.
On No Hate Comments Day, I encourage everyone around the globe to join together and raise awareness against this deadly pandemic of cyberbullying that is spreading like a virus on the internet. The cure to fixing this problem is the vaccine of positive thinking, encouraging words and uplifting messages.
I am asking everyone on every May 23 going forward, to observe one day where they post no hateful comments, to observe No Hate Comments Day, to raise awareness of the impact of hateful comments and to encourage everyone to not post or use malicious, hateful comments.
Dr. Min Byoung-chul, an endowed-chair professor at Chung-Ang University, is the founder and chairman of the Sunfull Foundation, which sponsors the Sunfull Internet Peace Movement and the Internet Peace Prize, and is an active advocate for promoting peace and the prevention of human rights violation on the internet.
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