On May 14th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office announced that they had indicted YouTuber A (35 years old, female) without detention on charges of defamation and insults under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection.
From October 2021 to June last year, A defamed seven celebrities, including entertainers and influencers, by uploading 23 videos spreading malicious information about them on the YouTube channel “Sojang”. A also reportedly disparaged the appearance of five people 19 times.
As a result of the investigation, A operated the YouTube channel in a paid membership system and even encouraged subscribers to sponsor. There were four membership levels, ranging from “trainee” with a fee of 1,990 won per month to “special” costing up to 600,000 won.
Videos in which A edited and distributed false information about celebrities received high views, and the number of the channel’s subscribers once reached 70,000.
According to the prosecution’s analysis of the YouTube channel, A earned 250 million won within two years starting from June 2021 and even purchased real estate using part of the profits from the channel.
In addition to Jang Won-young, many other victims have also filed complaints against YouTuber “Sojang”. The prosecution even found additional evidence and requested arrest warrants for A twice but the court rejected them, stating “There’s no need to worry about A running away”.
Earlier, Jang Won-young filed a suit against A, claiming that her reputation was severely damaged by the continuous spread of false information from A’s YouTube channel, and the court ruled in favor of Jang Won-young in January this year. The court also ordered A to pay 100 million won to Jang Won-young as compensation.
