SB Comments of the Week (11/11-11/17)

Sometimes netizens drive me crazy. Some people in the kpop fandom tend to develop a disliking for a certain group of people (certain fan groups mainly) but I’ve developed a distaste for everyone in general. How does that make me sound? I’m no misanthrope, I assure you, but the fact that people can comfortably sit behind a screen and spew insults like it’s their job to do so only infuriates me. Firstly, I don’t care if you hate so-and-so or think they are a slut or a misbehaved “nugu”, but there is no need to go on and on about it, especially knowing that there are people who may take your comments the wrong way. People are sensitive, and I’ve met my fair share of sensitive fans online. Why bother provoking someone?

From my point of view, Block B did nothing shame worthy (perhaps inconsiderate, but not more) and the people who continue to demean them are the ones doing worse. Some are angry at Taeil for being rude, fine, but others are condemning the entire group for supposedly talking behind someone’s back, and that’s not even how it went down. He was speaking of a woman whom he personally knew to her FACE. That’s where the distinction lies. How does anonymously speaking through a computer justify a netizen’s behavior when the behavior is the same one they are condemning? If the woman had had a problem with what he said she would have taken it up with him and he wouldn’t do it again. It’d be their problem, they’d resolve it, the end.

People are just looking for an excuse to further tarnish the group’s reputation. People find it entertaining, they delude themselves into thinking that what they are doing will bring some sort of sick justice, but no one gave netizens the right to condemn someone they don’t even know. If it were our duty to do this, Tablo‘d be in jail for “lying about his degrees”. T-ara would have disbanded for bullying their team mate. IU would have have been shamed out of the industry and branded a deceitful *insert cuss word*.

How much do we know about these people to make judgement? How much of the truth do we have to determine who’s right and who’s wrong? We are not a jury and the internet is not a court room.

Making bullying — cyber or otherwise — a crime punishable by law would depend on a the severity, intent and length of the abuse. Sohee‘s case would appear to be in the realm of prolonged abuse, so I agree with the decision to pursue legal action — though I won’t be surprised if it gets tossed out at some point. A lawyer only has to prove the damage is less severe than the charge, so unless he did send very inappropriate material to Sohee (It would not shock me if he did), most likely they will point to the fact that Sohee has not “appeared” to suffer from this and it is merely a nuisance. A very large nuisance, but unless Sohee can show signs of serious mental, physical or emotional turmoil, expect the attorney to pounce. It is just one of the ways that a lawyer can utterly mindf*ck you into a corner with small details. They make manipulation into an art form.

In the greater scheme of things, I do think bullying should carry harsher penalties. Again, mental and/or physical distress would have to be proven before legal action is warranted, but it should be a punishable offense — if for no other reason than to prevent vigilante justice, which is often blind, misguided and far too indiscriminate in its attack patterns. That said, getting the legal system more involved can easily turn into the proverbial double edged sword. A legal system is not designed to record emotional stress unless it manifests in a physical form (self mutilation, anxiety related health concerns, etc.). This is only (unfortunately) logical because you can’t really just take someone at their word that they are in distress over harassment, otherwise you might have an influx of false claims, or people looking for a quick payday on damages for “emotional distress” to deal with.

Assuming there is evidence that this ongoing harassment has effected Sohee more than we know, I do not think JYP overreacted. I also believe that taking it to the courts is the proper move, because it cuts out the cancer in this situation: overzealous netizens who take these things far more seriously than is healthy to do. If left to netizens, no doubt some people would be wrongfully targeted, accusations would be flung about, and a situation that very much needs to be handled tactfully and with insularity would quickly turn into a fiasco.

On a personal note, I hope Sohee holds up well. “Bully” is just another word for coward. I’ve never met one that actually stood behind their words when confronted face-to-face. However, the ugliest aspect of the internet is that it, mostly, shields a person from all responsibility if they hide their true selves cleverly enough. Still that does not decrease the damaging effect that long term, ongoing and unrelenting abuse, whether emotional or physical, can inflict upon a person, so I send good thoughts that way through this process..

If this case does not get tossed out, I hope JYP hires a shark of a lawyer with a tendency to go for the balls.