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“If the Judge Won’t Act, I Will”: The Dangerous Stigma of Cyber Prisons [Is This Acceptable?]

SEOUL, Yonhap News Agency — In late May, a prison without bars was created in cyberspace: the “Digital Prison.”

The website arbitrarily disclosed the personal information of criminals or suspects involved in serious crimes, including sex crimes and child abuse. It was created with the stated purpose of subjecting them to public judgment by revealing details such as their faces, names, occupations, educational backgrounds, and mobile phone numbers.

(Omitted)

Attorney Chon Hyeong Hwan of YK Law Firm said, “Based on recent Supreme Court precedents, if it is determined that there was no intent to defame, and the information disclosed is true, the act may not be punishable under criminal law on the grounds that its illegality is precluded.” He added, “If the operator is formally booked, they are likely to argue that there was no intent to defame.”

Despite the police’s stated plan to take legal action, Digital Prison announced that a second operator would continue running the site after its first operator was placed on the wanted list.

Private punishment carried out outside the judicial system. If an act carried out in the name of comforting victims who must live with lifelong pain ends up creating another innocent victim, would it not be nothing more than indiscriminate exposure of personal information?

Reporter Lee Eun-jung
Intern Reporter Kim Jung-hoo

Source: Yonhap News Agency, Reporter Lee Eun-jung and Intern Reporter Kim Jung-hoo, “If the Judge Won’t Act, I Will”: The Dangerous Stigma of Cyber Prisons [Is This Acceptable?], September 15, 2020.