Web Portal Blocks Comments About Entertainers

A web portal owned by Korean's biggest messaging app is fighting cyber violence against celebrities.

On October 31, Daum began blocking all online comments made about entertainers.

Daum, which is owned by the internet company kakao, is the second biggest portal site in Korea after Naver.

In late October, Daum announced that it was temporarily closing down the comment function for its entertainment news section.

News articles about celebrities are very popular, leading to a high number of views and thousands of comments.

However, some users have exploited the articles' comment sections and used them to attack the celebrities.

They have left hateful comments and spread wild rumors about the entertainers.

Many celebrities have spoken out against these malicious attacks.

They said the comments do damage to their reputation and cause stress and severe psychological pain.

The pressure of the hateful comments is said to have even contributed to some celebrities' tragic deaths.

For these reasons, many celebrities and their fans have hailed the decision by Daum and Kakao.

They said it would help maintain the safety of online communication and encourage civil discourse.

However, there were people who disagreed with the decision made by the web portal.

Some said that despite its good intentions, the ban was a kind of censorship of opinions.

Others said the ban did not address the real source of the problem.

For example, various companies will continue writing wildly speculative articles about the private lives of musicians and actors.

These "clickbait articles are written to increase profit from advertisements.

The critics said the articles also helped to fuel the false and hurtful rumors surrounding celebrities.

 

• temporarily  tèmpərérəli  일시적으로, 임시로   exploit ɪkˈsplɔɪt (부당하게) 이용하다, 착취하다,  <산야 등을> 개척하다, <자원을> 개발하다, 활용[이용]하다

• malicious  məˈlɪʃəs 악의적인, 적의 있는 (=malevolent, spiteful)  contribute kənˈtrɪbjuːt  기부[기증]하다, (…의) 한 원인이 되다, 기여하다, 이바지하다

• contribution  |kɑːntrɪ│bjuːʃn 기부금, 성금 (=donation), 기여, 이바지, 원인 제공   tragic  ˈtrædʒɪk 비극적인  hail heɪl  환호하며 맞이하다, <사람을> (…이라고 부르며) 맞이하다 ((as))

• discourse  |dɪskɔːs  담론   intention ɪnˈtenʃn 의사, 의도, 목적 (→well intentioned)  censorship |sensərʃɪp 검열   speculative ˈspekjələtɪv 추측에 근거한

• fuel the false  거짓을 부채질하다