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South Korean Police Battle Online Gossip

by Lee Bains on October 6, 2008 at 05:35 PM


Thursday, South Korea's national police announced that they would devote 900 officers to a month-long investigation into malicious online gossip, News.com.au reported yesterday. This operation commenced in the wake of a beloved South Korean actress's suicide on Thursday.

Choi Jin-sil, according to investigators, hanged herself as a result of chronic depression, exacerbated by online rumors that another South Korean actor had taken out a large loan from Choi prior to taking his own life in September. These popular allegations, an investigation found, were totally false.

At present, South Korea's dominant party considers this sort of online gossip to be libelous, and is pushing for legislation against it. The opposition party, however, is holding out, citing concerns regarding freedom of speech.

U.S. lawmakers will, no doubt, face a similar dilemma at some point or another, as the cyber bullying of private individuals is on the rise. [From: News.com.au]

Tags: gossip, internet, web

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