South Korean YouTuber Gu Ja-Yeeok (real name Lee Jun-Hee) was sentenced for defamation by the country’s Supreme Court for having expressed the history of the sexual crime of another content creator on his YouTube channel.
The highest court in the country has recently confirmed a $ 2,159 fine against the YouTuber for violating the law on the network of information and communications.
The case derives from GE JA-YEOK video video published Between August and October 2020, in which he discussed the past martial arts the past sexual crimes of YouTuber and revealed the victim’s real name.
The videos have disclosed the personal details, including the physical characteristics and residence of the victim, and have even included judgments or links of the court to download them. The content characterized an interview with a third party who claimed to have attended the victim and made accusations of rape, confinement and aggression.
Public ministries initially issued a summary accusation with a fine of $ 2,159, but Gua Jae-Yoeok objected and requested a formal process. During the procedures, its defense claimed that the transmissions served the public interest since all the contents were truthful and did not benefit from it. However, the first court rejected this statement, declaring that the videos contained falsehoods and were motivated by both personal revenge and financial income.
The court noted that in the period he Loaded The videos, Gua Jae-Yoeok, had said in live chat that “the defamation to affirm the facts brings light penalties” and that he had never seen anyone imprisoned for defamation “. The judges also stressed that he was financially setting from his YouTube activities.
The Court stressed that while the victim had been sentenced for sexual crimes, they were not subject to restrictions on employment and at the time they did not work in the related field, making the indiscriminate dissemination of the judicial judgments inappropriate.
The Court of Appeal confirmed the original sentence despite the continuous statements of GE JAE-YEOK according to which its actions were in the public interest. The Court recognized that the videos may have contributed in some way to the public feeling in removing sexual transgressors from the martial arts community, but said that the damage caused by the dissemination of the victim’s personal information was much greater. The Court also observed that he had republished a criminal sentence expired in his entirety and continued to upload similar videos even after a court ordered their removal.
The Supreme Court concluded that the decision of the lower Court did not violate the logic or principles of the assessment of the evidence and has not found no incorrect application of the law on defamation or in the violation of freedom of expression. As a result, the appeal of GE JAE-YEOK was rejected and the $ 2,159 fine was aimed.
This conviction of defamation is separated from the involvement of Gua Jae-Yoek in another high profile In the event that he was sentenced to three years in prison for blackmailing the famous Mukbang YouTuber Tzuyang.
In that case, he was stated in extorting 55 million victories by Tzuyang threatening to exhibit accusations on his tax evasion and his personal life. The Court in that matter said he had exploited Tzuyang’s vulnerability to extort money in exchange for not having revealed his private life to the public.
