The exclusive feature available only to paying members.
Koreaboo
MOVES is currently facing significant backlash after unveiling their latest feature for Weverse — an automatically generated captioning service available only through a “digital subscription.”
Closed captioning, a crucial accessibility tool for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, has been made an exclusive feature available only to paying members. Weverse announced the new feature via a statement released on its platform.
We are happy to announce that automatically generated captions have been added as a new digital subscription benefit. You will be able to use the automatically generated subtitles immediately if you are a digital subscription subscriber starting January 16, 2025 (KST).
Take this opportunity to enjoy the LIVES of your favorite artists with automatically generated subtitles!
Real-time automatically generated subtitles will be available in up to 13 languages (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Spanish, French, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, German, Italian) when LIVE will be held in Korean.
— Weverse
The decision to put this feature behind a paywall has sparked outrage among fans, who believe it unfairly monetizes a feature that many rely on for accessibility. Many argue that subtitles are not a luxury but an essential tool to ensure equitable access to content. The move also sparked accusations of ableism, with fans expressing disappointment with HYBE and Weverse’s approach to inclusivity.
Why doesn’t anyone mention how clever it is that Weverse is now making people PAY FOR SUBTITLES that were always free. And the deaf fans???? @weverseofficial @HYBEOFFICIALtwt pic.twitter.com/VBtSG8iBnA
— GraceSea 🍉🔻🐋 (@HungryBunnie23) January 16, 2025
Weverse Live now has automated captioning that can only be accessed behind a paywall, because for some reason in addition to the actual SEVENTEEN subscription, Weverse wants you to pay ANOTHER subscription for these “perks”.
HYBE is really about money.
— Kathrina (@vindicatedtruth) January 16, 2025
weverse is actually evil because you have to pay for live subtitles pic.twitter.com/XuBipdHTQ9
— mila ★ (@seungslle) January 16, 2025
I saw that Weverse is making real-time auto-generated subscriptions a paid feature. If you’ve ever watched a video with real-time computer-generated captions, you know how terrible it will be. We will remain faithful to the added human subtitles which will arrive later and later. 🙃
— Rafranz (@rafranzdavis) January 18, 2025
Some fans are now waiting to see how HYBE or Weverse will address this criticism and whether the company will reconsider its stance on this issue. So far the company has not responded to fans’ concerns.
