KCSC Blocks 11 Accounts on Instagram and Other Platforms for Disparaging Late Former President Roh

The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) has decided to block access to 11 Instagram and YouTube accounts that repeatedly distributed content ridiculing the death of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun or insulting the deceased and his bereaved family.

The KCSC's Communications Review Subcommittee announced that it held its 42nd meeting on September 22 and decided to request corrective action to block access to these accounts.

According to the review, the accounts posted content such as images and videos ridiculing the circumstances of the former president's death or superimposing his portrait onto objects, animals, and sexual targets, as well as sexual remarks and profanity directed at the bereaved family, and expressions inciting prejudice and derogatory remarks against specific regions such as Bongha Village.

The subcommittee had previously tabled a decision on the matter at its 29th meeting held on September 6 to thoroughly examine the application of regulations, and reintroduced the motion on this day after reviewing relevant judicial precedents and receiving external legal counsel.

The subcommittee explained that it took into consideration court rulings stating that insulting expressions directed at the deceased can infringe upon the bereaved family's feelings of mourning and remembrance, as well as the fact that the accounts did not simply post one-off entries, but continuously produced and redistributed mocking and disparaging content.

However, the subcommittee concluded that the provisions concerning "illegal information (discrimination and hatred)" under the revised Information and Communications Network Act, which took effect in July, were difficult to apply to this case.

This was because it determined that the status of "former president" does not fall under the category of social standing defined by the Information and Communications Network Act.

Kim WOOSEOK, head of the Communications Review Subcommittee, said, "While freedom of expression should be guaranteed to the greatest extent possible, acts that ridicule the pain of others over the internet or infringe upon the bereaved family's feelings of mourning must be refrained from."

(Photo courtesy of KCSC, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.