QuoteBack in 2019, Kang Daniel’s lawyers released a statement announcing that they have submitted an application to the Seoul Central District Court to request the closure of the “Produce 101 Season 2” community (known as a “gallery”). They explained that there are millions of posts on the gallery and many of them contain libelous falsehoods, describing that the postings exceed the boundaries of normal freedom of expression.
DC Inside issued a statement as a response in which they lamented that the request was made. The internet forum shared that the request to close a gallery has no legal basis and added that, through monitoring of reports by users, DC Inside managers take 24-hour action including deletion and suspension when there is a problematic post.
On October 28, the Civil Settlement Division 16 of the Seoul Central District Court ruled that the plaintiff (Kang Daniel) had lost the lawsuit filed against the defendant (DC Inside). The court stated, “Excessive interference with expressions posted on the internet can dampen freedom of expression.”
The court explained, “Even if DC Inside has a duty to properly manage the online posting space, excessive interference with articles posted there for fear of defamation and compensation for damages will inevitably dampen freedom of expression.”
They added, “When DC Inside receives reports on posts that insult or defame certain celebrities, they try to delete them, and in this case, there is no evidence that most of the posts on the bulletin board are slandering or insulting Kang Daniel. It is insufficient to acknowledge that closing the online bulletin board is the only way to prevent infringement on Kang Daniel, and there is no evidence to prove it either.”
How tf did he expect this to work? The Gallery itself was dedicated to Produce S2, not dedicated to hating on him and there were moderators on site. They did their part and all they're liable to do.
I understand that Daniel has had a really tough time with his mental health but he can't shutdown a whole forum just because some people on there harass him. There would be no social media or open platform to have any kind of opinion left if people have that kinda power. That anybody cheering this on is straight up disturbing. This isn't "fighting for the rights of idols" this is oppression of speech