|
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of a man who sued four major Internet portals for failing to delete postings defaming his character. The defamation suit stemmed from a posting that claimed the man, identified only by his family name Kim, had caused his pregnant girlfriend to commit suicide in 2005 by demanding they break up. That posting spread across Internet portals, prompting thousands of comments to be posted every day attacking the man. Later, Kim's mobile phone number, photograph, alma mater and workplace were revealed on the Internet. Kim had to quit his job and move to a new neighborhood.
The court ruled in favor of Kim, saying that Internet portals took media articles defaming his character and placed them in prime locations on their web sites, while the search functions of the portals were used to defame him. The court ruled that Internet portals should decide whether the contents of a posting defames a person's character and should either delete or block access to those postings if they do, even if the person being targeted does not request that they be deleted.
Internet sites, which offer infinite space to hold information, tremendously boosted the freedom of expression individuals can enjoy. On the other hand, postings created by many people are used as dangerous tools that invade the privacy of others and defame their character. Also, Internet portals possess search functions so that once an individual becomes the target of an online witch-hunt, their personal information can be revealed to the world in an instant. And the targets of such witch-hunts have to endure unimaginable pain and suffering.
Until now, Internet portals have served merely as "newsstands" that receive and display news articles and material submitted by others, and have denied any responsibility for the contents of those writings. But if the services offered by Internet portals, such as the provision of news, opportunity to post comments, search for information and form online communities, can be used to defame a person's character, the portals must take responsibility and monitor and manage those services. Internet portals should also be responsible for monitoring and managing information posted on their web sites that have been used to threaten and intimidate advertisers in certain newspapers since the U.S. beef controversy erupted.
We cannot afford to delay the creation of a legal mechanism that will get Internet portals to take responsibility for the information posted on their sites. It is time to let the portals know that they should do much more than simply make money off page views while offering the means and methods for people to engage in cyber violence.
|
