More Than 2,000 Caught for Groundless Rumors Online
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By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Eleven Internet users were arrested and 2,030 caught during the police's investigation of online articles featuring groundless rumors or defamation last month, the National Police Agency said Monday. It marks a 117 percent gain from the same period a year earlier.
The crackdown between Oct. 6 and Nov. 5 targeted online articles or comments posted under online news services aimed at rooting out "cyber terrorism" hiding behind anonymity, a spokesman for the agency said.
Police launched the investigation soon after actress Choi Jin-sil killed herself on Oct. 2 allegedly due to groundless rumors about her circulated online and haunted her. "The case has drawn public understanding that we need some controlling system on those malicious articles. Throughout the investigation many people have informed us of such crimes", the NPA spokesman said.
Libel or contempt took the lion's share of 59 percent, followed by threatening with 22 percent and stalking with 18 percent. Most of the offenders were in their 20s or 30s and males accounted for 69 percent.
Most defamation or libel stemmed from personal grudges out of relationship or finance issues and the offenders spread false information through blogs, online communities or mobile phone text messages.
A man in Incheon was caught when he posted articles defaming his ex-girlfriend on his blogs and elsewhere. There he said, "she sleeps with every man she bumps into and has had several abortions". Another man identified as Kim distributed a sex video of him and his ex-girlfriend online, which 223 people have allegedly downloaded.
Staff Reporter
Eleven Internet users were arrested and 2,030 caught during the police's investigation of online articles featuring groundless rumors or defamation last month, the National Police Agency said Monday. It marks a 117 percent gain from the same period a year earlier.
The crackdown between Oct. 6 and Nov. 5 targeted online articles or comments posted under online news services aimed at rooting out "cyber terrorism" hiding behind anonymity, a spokesman for the agency said.
Police launched the investigation soon after actress Choi Jin-sil killed herself on Oct. 2 allegedly due to groundless rumors about her circulated online and haunted her. "The case has drawn public understanding that we need some controlling system on those malicious articles. Throughout the investigation many people have informed us of such crimes", the NPA spokesman said.
Libel or contempt took the lion's share of 59 percent, followed by threatening with 22 percent and stalking with 18 percent. Most of the offenders were in their 20s or 30s and males accounted for 69 percent.
Most defamation or libel stemmed from personal grudges out of relationship or finance issues and the offenders spread false information through blogs, online communities or mobile phone text messages.
A man in Incheon was caught when he posted articles defaming his ex-girlfriend on his blogs and elsewhere. There he said, "she sleeps with every man she bumps into and has had several abortions". Another man identified as Kim distributed a sex video of him and his ex-girlfriend online, which 223 people have allegedly downloaded.
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