Households and college students grieve the demise of one of many victims of the Jeju Air Crash in Gwangju on Jan. 6. (Yonhap by way of The Korea Herald/Asia Information Community)
A disturbing sample of on-line hate speech and misinformation has emerged within the wake of the tragic Jeju Air airplane crash at Muan Worldwide Airport, concentrating on the victims and their grieving households.
Because the crash on Dec. 29, social media platforms and on-line communities have been inundated with hateful feedback and false narratives concerning the victims and their households. Among the many most notable situations was a derogatory put up suggesting that the victims’ households have been “delighted” about receiving compensation supported by the federal government.
A person in his 30s was arrested for posting a remark that learn “Take into consideration how a lot the compensation for all these persons are, households with a number of deaths have to be thrilled.” Different feedback included “Why do now we have to grieve? They receives a commission,” and “The pilot of the crash simply wished to play the hero.”
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Baseless rumors circulated concerning the flight crew as effectively, falsely claiming that each the pilot and co-pilot have been girls, fueling a surge of misogynistic feedback. Each have been recognized as male.
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Regional discrimination additionally surfaced, with focused hate speech aimed toward Muan Worldwide Airport and the encircling area. South Korea has a protracted historical past of regionalism, notably between the Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces. Labeling the incident because the “Muan crash” may unintentionally reinforce detrimental stereotypes concerning the Jeolla area. In response, the Transport Ministry emphasised that the official identify of the incident is “Dec. 29 Jeju Air airplane crash.”
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This alarming pattern of hostility mirrors earlier nationwide tragedies. In each the Sewol Ferry catastrophe and the Itaewon crowd crush, bereaved households have been subjected to public mockery and dangerous narratives. Information revealed that of the 46 defamation circumstances associated to the Sewol tragedy, 41 resulted in convictions. Equally, defamation circumstances linked to the Itaewon catastrophe had been reported to the police, with 17 forwarded to prosecutors.
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Koo Jeong-woo, a sociology professor at Sungkyunkwan College, pointed to an absence of empathy in society as a motive behind such backlash. “Complexity and extremism in society have left many remoted. And these folks have a tendency to precise their ideas in a weird and excessive manner in order that they’ll get consideration,” he mentioned.
The mocking of the victims and their households over compensation could stem from deep emotions of resentment and injustice, which might be fueling these hurtful feedback.
“For nationwide disasters such because the Sewol ferry catastrophe and Itaewon crowd crash, the federal government laid out a compensation assist fund. People who find themselves residing daily really feel the compensation is overrated and say the bereaved are getting ‘unfair therapy’ and that they’re making an enormous deal when everybody’s life is tough,” Koo added.
Underneath present South Korean regulation, people who put up defamatory or insulting content material on-line can face costs corresponding to defamation of the deceased, insult, or obstruction of enterprise. Nevertheless, punishments have traditionally been minimal. For instance, an individual who posted a manipulated poster mocking Sewol Ferry victims’ households was fined just one million gained ($680). Equally, a person who posted sexually derogatory feedback about Itaewon tragedy victims in a chatroom was acquitted in each the primary and second trials.
The injury inflicted by faux information and malicious feedback goes past authorized issues. The psychological influence on grieving households is profound, including to their already insufferable struggling. Professor Lim Myung-ho of Dankook College’s Division of Psychology emphasised the significance of stopping secondary hurt.
“We have to be extra cautious in distributing data from unclear sources to forestall further hurt to victims’ households,” Lim said.
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The continued unfold of misinformation and mockery not solely deepens the trauma for bereaved households but in addition fuels public mistrust and division throughout instances of nationwide disaster, consultants warned.