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Aiming to curtail slander, libel and other illegal acts on the Internet, the government has decided to widen the application of user verification measures when people sign up to use the services offered by Internet portals and other websites. The user verification measure, which had been applied only to Internet portals and user-created content sites with more than 300,000 daily visitors, or to Internet news sites with more than 200,000 daily visitors, will now be expanded to websites with at least 100,000 daily visitors. The government is trying to lessen the instances of illegal acts and cyber violence committed on the Internet under the cloak of anonymity.
But user verification has its limitations. Some websites make it possible for people to avoid identifying themselves by allowing users to register using office or mobile phone numbers, and without having to give out resident registration numbers. Also, most websites make it possible for one person to create multiple IDs so that it becomes very difficult to identify individuals.
There is no other country in the world where the Internet has become such a trash dump filled with bad language, threats and incendiary ideas. Last year, one young female singer committed suicide after being tormented by countless postings on the Internet criticizing and ridiculing her based on speculation that she had plastic surgery on her face. Even after she died, people posted messages saying it was "good news" or that they were happy that she had killed herself. One office worker had to quit his job after postings spread online criticizing him for allegedly causing his ex-girlfriend to commit suicide by breaking up with her after getting her pregnant. Others posted his photograph and mobile phone number. When the mad cow protests were in full swing, people posted on a forum of portal Daum the photos, affiliated regiments, schools and personal homepage addresses of riot police under the title "list of violent riot police." Others posted insults and even death threats against those officers. These acts are commonplace in Korean cyberspace. They are easy to commit under the safety of anonymity.
The only thing to do is to verify the identities of each and every person online. Some say freedom of speech is being infringed upon, but we are not living in an age where the government cracks down on people for expressing their opinions. Now, anyone can criticize the government. But the government is saying criticism should be based on accurate facts and be made using proper expressions and logic. A continued insistence on maintaining anonymity is like telling everyone to keep neglecting cyber violence, which has turned our society into a wasteland.
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