Two Months After Rapper Rich Iggy's Apology, Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Calls for Stricter Regulation on Hate Speech and Distortion

Approximately two months after the controversy surrounding rapper Rich Iggy’s disparagement of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation has called for stronger regulations against hate speech and historical distortion.

On July 7, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, along with the 4.16 Foundation, the May 18 Memorial Foundation, and the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, released a joint statement following the implementation of the revised Information and Communications Network Act. The foundations stated, "Defining information that incites hatred and discrimination as illegal is a meaningful step forward," but added, "The current system is insufficient to effectively block the hate speech and distorted information that repeatedly spreads online."

The foundations pointed out that current laws only regulate content that "seriously incites hatred" or "significantly damages human dignity," making it difficult to capture the types of hate speech actually spreading online, such as slang, memes, and repetitive mockery. They also argued that limiting regulations to platforms with an average of 1 million or more daily users is a limitation, and called for institutional improvements that include small and medium-sized online communities.

This statement has drawn particular attention as it follows the controversy in May involving rapper Rich Iggy’s disparagement of the late former President Roh.

Rich Iggy sparked outrage by scheduling a performance for 5:23 PM on May 23, the anniversary of the former president’s passing, and setting the ticket price at 52,300 won, among other actions and lyrics that mocked the late president. At the time, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation filed for an injunction to ban the performance, which was ultimately canceled. Rich Iggy later visited the Roh Moo-hyun Citizens Center to deliver a handwritten apology, admitting that he had "used words and actions to mock and disparage the late president for fame from the beginning of his debut until recently," and apologized to the bereaved family and the foundation.

The controversy extended beyond Rich Iggy himself. Several rappers who were scheduled to participate in the performance issued statements, either apologizing or explaining the circumstances of their involvement. Notably, Deepflow stated that he did not know the number '523' was used to mock the late former President Roh, and Paloalto also apologized, stating that he does not agree with mocking the late president or using hate speech. On the other hand, The Quiett, who had previously given a favorable assessment of Rich Iggy by saying, "Trying to touch upon taboos is a sign of youth," remained silent.

In the joint statement, the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation emphasized, "Hate speech and historical distortion are not issues for a specific political faction, but a common task for our society regarding how we protect historical truth and human dignity." They added, "While protecting freedom of expression, we must urgently supplement our systems to ensure that hate speech, which infringes upon personal rights, is not left unchecked."



Reported by Kang Kyung-yoon | Produced by SBS Entertainment News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.