Popular celebrities such as APRIL‘s Naeun and actor Lee Shin Young are among the recent few victims of malicious netizens who had spread false bullying rumors.
One netizen who claimed that she went to the same elementary school as Naeun. She initially revealed a story that Naeun would bully her in school by belittling her shy personality and criticizing her looks.
The alleged schoolmate later confessed that her story was fake and publicly apologized to Naeun. But the damage had been done as the rumor had quickly spread all over the internet and caused irreversible harm to Naeun emotionally and psychologically.
Actor Lee Shin Young, who quickly rose to stardom through Crash Landing On You, was also a victim of a past schoolmate who claimed he used to physically abuse and bully him in the past.
As many of Shin Young’s childhood friends spoke up to defend him, the netizen soon revoked his story and claimed he had confused Lee Shin Young with another person.
When the netizen personally apologized to Lee Shin Young, the actor had decided to forgive him and let the issue go without further action. However, the netizen later demanded compensation for unreasonable cause. Lee Shin Young and his agency then decided to take the netizen to court.
Lee Shin Young’s lawyer let the public know that anyone who spread malicious bullying rumors that are false can face harsh legal punishments through court.
The perpetrator sincerely apologized, so Lee Shin Young decided to forgive him and move on. But after confessing his fault, he demanded compensation. We believed that we couldn’t let this continue so we decided to take legal action.
Because it’s the internet, rumors can spread at the speed of light and you can’t control it. Under the Information and Communication Network Act, cases of defamation through false facts can be sentenced up to 7 years in prison.
— Lawyer Noh Young Hee
Malicious netizens will hopefully heed this warning and stop ruining people’s lives with false rumors and hate.
Watch the full segment below:
