Todd Bishop
Shirley, a member of the former female group f(x) who passed away earlier, has changed her image of “prostitute” since she was independent. She often publishes bold films and speeches on social networking sites. Shirley actively published the “No Bra” declaration during his lifetime and was often noticed by the media. She also provoked a hot conversation because of the “official dew point” on the web.
Shirley’s words and deeds overturned the image of the past and inevitably disappointed some supporters. Many comments on the Internet against her have slowly turned into malicious bullying. In recent years, artists and managers have started to counterattack, and they have filed lawsuits against netizens who have maliciously smeared their messages.
Black powder malicious attack from physical to mental damage
Mentioning Shirley’s suicide incident, I have to mention the “ANTI” culture prevailing in the Korean network. The “ANTI” culture refers to fans who oppose idols and even swear and act excessively. These supporters are called “anti fans” (also known as “black powder”) on the Internet.
Anti fans can be purely annoying to an artist, or they can be enthusiastic fans of an artist themselves, but because the artist does not satisfy the individual expectations of the fans, the idols are hated because of love.
Of course, there are anti fans around the world, and we can’t say that the “ANTI” culture is unique to Korea. However, South Korea’s anti fans have long been a concern and concern for Korean society.
When Zheng Yunhao, the captain of the men’s combination Dongfang Shenqi, recorded a variety show in 2006, he drank a female fan to send and add super-adhesive orange juice, which needed to be sent to hospital for treatment. The former women’s group Baby VOX member Jane Miyuki revealed that she had received “photos without eyes” and “blood books” threatening to kill her. Her teammate Yoon Eun Hye was shot in the air with a water gun with sand.
Fanatic fans hurt the body of the artist’s idol, but it is life-threatening. However, more ongoing violations must be mentally harmful—especially verbal bullying from the Internet. The source of this damage is large-scale, non-directional. Because “the perpetrator” is basically a hidden identity, and it is hardly launched by a single person.
Cyber scams and bad reviews have caused many artists to suffer. Star idols suffer from psychological pressure due to unreasonable attacks by snipers, and cases of depression are common. Even more unfortunate is that the artist chooses to be a light-hearted person.
In addition to last month’s suicide in Shirley’s home, in June this year, actress Quan Meishan, 2017 Korean group SHINee member Jin Zhonglu, 2009 actress Zhang Ziwei, etc., were shocked by domestic and foreign Korean star suicides.
Zhang Ziyan: Korean actress Zhang Ziyan committed suicide in 2009. At that time, she left a suicide note and was forced to provide hundreds of sexual services to 31 large enterprises, senior financial institutions, executives of performing arts companies and senior news executives. Sudden sexual abuse. At the beginning of this year, the victory nightclub scandal that shocked Asia continued to ferment. The incident evoked memories of the people of the year. More than 600,000 Korean netizens jointly requested to reverse the case of Zhang Ziyan. In the end, the South Korean president’s text was ordered to investigate the case of Zhang Ziyan. However, the Korean prosecutor issued the final review results in May, indicating that the case could not be re-investigated.
Although we can’t attribute the Korean star suicide case to the cyberbullying culture, the unreasonable criticism and embarrassment of the netizens on the public figures will undoubtedly directly lead some artists to depression. For example, KARA’s former members with Hola and Girls’ Generation Captain Taixi have publicly expressed depression, and the former tried to be a light-hearted person. Fortunately, they were found to be rescued in time.
In the past, a series of suicides involving Han Xing attracted public attention. Some people pointed their finger at the entertainment brokerage company and accused them of not actively speaking to their artists. As a result, the artists were forced to be dumb and eventually led to tragedy.
Passive to active brokerage companies resort to law
However, in recent years, it seems that more and more entertainment brokerage companies realize that online speech hurts their artists, and affects their behavior, image and performance, and finally has a heavy impact on the company’s reputation and economic returns.
Therefore, the brokerage company began to change its practice, from passive role to taking the initiative, not only to make a statement condemnation, but to stop the dissemination of false messages by legal action. Artists are also beginning to realize that they must strive for the rights they deserve, and they will not be harmed by online speech, but they will not be able to make a sound.
In February last year, YG Entertainment, a major entertainment brokerage company in South Korea, collected evidence against netizens’ malicious slander on their artists and reported it to the local police. It also said that it would “not treat” the netizens’ willingness to release insults, beggars and damage reputation. .
Last year, Big Hit Entertainment, a company of the world-renowned men’s team BTS (BTS), reported about 70,000 malicious messages to the police, accusing them of damaging BTS reputation. In August of this year, the company once again reported to the South Damen Police Station in Seoul for netizens who uttered nuisances on the Internet.
Big Hit Entertainment not only actively collects online evidence, but also establishes a dedicated account for social networking to report on the protection of the company’s reputation. It also hopes to protect artists from malicious harassment on the Internet.
Although there is no data showing that the artists have been reduced by the netizens’ slanders, the brokerage company has voluntarily announced that the police’s acceptance is expected to curb the netizens’ false statements.
Internet dissemination of rumors of Internet users involved in prosecution
In June of this year, Han Xing Song Hye Kyo and Song Zhongji announced a divorce, which shocked the Asian entertainment circle. Subsequently, online rumors began, some netizens issued articles referring to Chinese businessmen involved in “double-song marriage”, and also referred to Song Huiqiao’s relationship with Chinese wealthy businessmen, and decided to divorce Song Zhongji.
The two men never said the real reason for the divorce, but 29 days after the announcement of the divorce news, Song Hye Kyo took control of the police through his company UAA, actively collecting and providing evidence, and the two netizens were charged. It is also rare for Korean artists to sue individual Internet users.
In addition, in response to the false news and insults caused by the divorce in Shuangsong, the Korea News Ethics Committee issued a warning to nine local news media to prevent unconfirmed and untrue news.
Are Korean artists and brokerage companies officially declaring war on cyberbullying? Chen Qingde, a Korean cultural research expert from Taiwan and a writer from South Korea, believes that the litigation methods like BTS and Song Hye Kyo can indeed target the hurricane of cyberbullying, but he is not optimistic about the results.
Both the rice class owner and the source of psychological stress
Chen Qingde described the network as a “double-edged sword” for the stars. “Korean stars are blushing through network exposure, and it can be said that there are good and bad.” Chen Qingde said. The Internet is a convenient publicity channel. Whether it is publishing an artist’s music film, the latest trends, brand endorsement activities, you can use the Internet to communicate with fans. The downside of the Internet is the online rumors from anti fans, which bring great psychological pressure and mental damage to artists.
In recent years, more and more Korean artists have complained to the police through brokerage companies. As mentioned above, Song Hye Kyo’s example of collecting evidence to sue netizens seems to be able to reverse the industry’s past “dumb culture” culture. However, Chen Qingde also mentioned that Korean brokerage companies will inevitably crack down on the effectiveness of complaints in order to take into account business considerations.
Although the brokerage company has the responsibility to protect the artists, they will also consider how to “profit”. If the artists are constantly attacked by netizens and their image is damaged, it will also hurt the commercial interests of the brokerage company.
Therefore, the brokerage firm does have incentives to protect the artist from bullying. But on the other hand, it is exactly the loyal fans of the artists, which bring profitable income to the brokerage company. Therefore, the brokerage company can not pose a hostile attitude towards the netizen group.
“After all, the hard-working artists are hoping to make a lot of money. At the same time, they need the support of their parents, so I think the attitude of the brokerage company is a bit embarrassing.” Chen Qingde said.
