NewJeans, Late Park Bo-ram, IVE: When Celebrities Suffer From Fake News On YouTube
The damage of fake news made by cyber wreckers is increasing day by day.
On April 11th, the New York Times reported that NewJeans recently asked California’s federal court to reveal the identity of a YouTube account holder who is spreading defamatory remarks against its members. This YouTuber made fake news about NewJeans in dozens of videos and has gained more than 13 million views. Shortly after the news was announced, the accused account, ‘7th grade middle school,’ was deleted. Before it was deleted, the YouTuber even made a video mocking NewJeans for taking legal actions. In addition, after the account was deleted, an account with the same name was opened immediately. The reopened account was deleted shortly afterwards, but various fake news videos have already been made.
Late singer Park Bo-ram was also a victim of fake news on YouTube. She recently passed away after being found collapsed in a bathroom during a drinking date with her friends. Fake rumors about Park Bo-ram’s cause of death spread on YouTube despite reports of no murder or suicidal evidence. The situation went out of control and the deceased agency legal responses.
With the development of YouTube, the era of single-person media has arrived, allowing anyone, regardless of age and nationality, to freely produce their own content and share it with people around the world. However, this is causing damage due to the appearance of “Cyber Wreckers (YouTubers who quickly creates news videos whenever an issue arises)” that tries to attract profits by making fake stories about celebrities. Although most of the agencies are taking legal actions against malicious comments or rumors about their artists, it was difficult to punish the operator or handle the problematic videos behind closed doors due to the nature of YouTube.
Among them, Starship Entertainment declared war against the famous cyber wrecker “Sojang,” which had continuously spread false information about its idols, including IVE. After a persistent response, they obtained meaningful information about the operator of the Sojang from Google’s headquarters in the U.S., and proceeded with civil and criminal lawsuits in Korea and abroad. The criminal behind Sojang was sent from the police to the prosecution, and Jang Won-young’s claim for damages worth 100 million won was ruled in favor of the first trial. As such, agencies are no longer holding back and are actively calling for stern punishment.
Source: naver
