Seoul City warns YouTubers against filming homeless people

By Kang Seung-woo

The Seoul Metropolitan Government, Tuesday, warned online content producers against filming homeless people without permission and posting video clips on social media platforms, citing violation of portrait rights.

“If posted videos disclose their faces without consent, it may violate their portrait rights and the producers can be punished,” a city official said.

The move came after several independent producers recently filmed provocative content involving homeless people, including footage of them drinking and fighting, and posted them on online platforms such as YouTube and AfreecaTV in order to increase viewership.

The city government added that such acts would not end only in a violation of portrait rights but may cause additional fallout.

“Disclosure of their faces is not the only problem. More serious is increasing malicious comments online and pervasive negative perception of them in the community,” the official said, adding that such unfavorable responses may discourage those people from getting back on their feet.

The local government also launched a move to help the homeless who are plagued by indiscreet content creators.

“We must keep in mind that anyone's portrait rights must be protected, so we ask online producers not to film homeless people without permission,” the official added.