Ruling in YouTuber Sojang's defamation case upheld by appellate court
An appellate court on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s ruling, which sentenced YouTuber Sojang to two years in prison, suspended for three years, for uploading false and defamatory videos about celebrities, including IVE’s Jang Won-young.
The Incheon District Court's criminal division found that the YouTuber, a 36-year-old woman surnamed Park, had spread unverified rumors and false information that damaged the reputations of several entertainers. She was convicted of defamation and insult under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
The appellate court also maintained the lower court’s order for Park to pay a fine of 210 million won ($143,000) and complete 120 hours of community service.
Park was indicted for uploading 23 videos to her YouTube channel that defamed seven public figures, including singers Jang and Kang Daniel, between October 2021 to June 2023.
In the clips, the YouTuber falsely claimed that Jang had sabotaged a fellow trainee’s debut out of jealousy and that other celebrities had engaged in prostitution or undergone plastic surgery.
She also posted videos ridiculing the appearance of two other female girl group members, leading to additional charges of insult.
Prosecutors said she earned about 250 million won from producing and distributing the videos.
In January, the lower court sentenced Park to two years in prison suspended for three years. Prosecutors appealed, calling the sentence too lenient, and sought a four-year prison sentence. Park argued that it was too harsh and that the fine was unjust.
A Seoul district court ordered Park to pay 30 million won in damages for defaming Kang and 100 million won to Jang last year. She was also ordered this year to pay a total of 76 million won to BTS members V and Jungkook and their agency, BigHit Music, for uploading false information about the singers.
Source: https://koreajoongangdaily.joi…y-appellate-court/2441691
