YouTube channel Sojang, which produced “fake news” about celebrities, was sued, but other “Cyber Wrecker” channels that produce such malicious videos are still active.
According to the entertainment industry on August 1st, Starship Entertainment recently announced that they are in the process of filing a lawsuit against the operator of “Sojang” for producing and distributing rumors about celebrities including IVE. Accordingly, the operator of “Sojang” closed the channel and posted an apology.
However, even after “Sojang” was sued, many “Cyber Wrecker” channels that deal with fake news in the entertainment industry are still active on YouTube.
Cyber Wrecker channel A, a channel that has been uploading videos related to the entertainment industry since 2012, recently became controversial by mass-producing false news that idol members got pregnant.
The operator of channel A even confidently posted on the channel’s community on July 30th, “I’ll explain the difference between me and Sojang.”
They criticized, “Sojang is a fraudulent channel that lied to people that fake news is real, insulted and embarrassed girl groups to get views.”
They claimed, “However, I brought facts or rumors from communities and explained them. Most of the refutations were also included in videos.”
They added, “The reason why I’m not sued by entertainment agencies is because the agencies know that my videos weren’t made for malicious purposes. My goal is to do YouTube in a way that benefits me, viewers and girl groups.”
Aside from channel A, there are many Cyber Wrecker channels on YouTube that mass-produce and spread fake news under the guise of entertainment issues.
These YouTube channels target not only idols but also actors and influencers. They spread rumors with provocative thumbnails, titles and unconfirmed contents that can be easily misunderstood.
In addition, not only do they simply produce rumors, but they also use clever techniques to wrap as if the contents were objectively delivered, not their own opinions. These channels have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, so they are recognized as the epicenter of spreading fake news rapidly. Rumors of discord among idol members or celebrities, appearance criticism, unconfirmed plastic surgery and fake dating rumors are regular happenings.
Experts pointed out that not only Sojang but also the content production by other Cyber Wrecker channels could be subject to punishment.
Source: Daum
