Families attacked online after South Korea plane crash

A The plane crashed in South Korea Leave last December Park Gweno Wattin. The 22 -year -old hardly found a mourning space for his parents when he encountered a torrent of online abuse, conspiracies and malicious jokes that were made around the victims.

The Jeju air plane, which was from Bangkok, Thailand, was crashed at Mawan International Airport on December 29 and exploded after it was criticized to a concrete barrier at the end of the runway, killing 179 out of 181 people on board.

Police investigations were identified and arrested eight people who were accused of making insulting and defaming online posts. These suggestions, which indicate that the families were “happy” to receive compensation from the authorities, or that they were “fake victims” – to the extent that some felt that they were forced to prove that they lost their loved ones.

The authorities have removed at least 427 of these jobs.

But this is not the first time that the wandering families in South Korea have found the targets of abuse via the Internet. Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation, experts described a culture where economic struggles, financial envy and social issues such as toxic competitiveness are nourishing hate speech.

After Seoul Crushing the Halloween crowd in 2022Casualties and bereaved families have been stained similarly. The man who lost his son in the accident had his photo by hate groups – he showed him laughing after receiving compensation.

People whose loved ones died in the Sewol phrase that drowned in 2014 – a marine disaster that saw 304 people killed, most of them schoolchildren – were also targets for hate speech.

The tragedy witnessed that the government is paying an average of 420 million winners (292,840 dollars; 231,686 pounds) for each victim – which led to comments that claimed that this number is unreasonable.

“People who live day after day feel exaggerated compensation and say that the bereaved gets” unfair treatment “and that they are making a big problem when everyone’s life is difficult.”

In the subsequent comments on the British Broadcasting Commission, Professor Koo suggested that the economic stress and competitive labor market – especially in the aftermath of Covid – left many people to feel social isolated, which exacerbates the issue of hate speech.

He says that many South Koreans, “now look at others, are not like their peers, but as sections”, referring to the culture of extensive comparison in South Korea.

“We tend to compare a lot … if you put another person, it is easier to feel outperform yourself,” he told the BBC. “For this reason, there is a little tilt in Korea to engage in hate speech or make insulting notes, with the aim of reducing others to lift themselves.”

Mr. Park says that the families of the victims of Jeju Air Crash have been distinguished as “parasites that surpass the nation’s money.”

For example, a recent article on an emergency relief box of three million wins ($ 2055; 1,632 pounds) was collected through donations. This article was met with a flood of malicious comments, and many of them indicate the wrong suggestion that taxpayers’ money was used for the box.

One of these comments said: “It seems that the families of the victims of Mawan Airport have reached the Grand Prix. They must be happy.”

Mr. Park says these comments were “overwhelming”.

“Even if the compensation for the accident comes, how can we feel as if they were spent recklessly when the price of our loved ones is?” He says. “Every one of these comments cuts us deeply. We are not here to earn money.”

“Many people, instead of being sensitive, are based on entertainment about the suffering of others.” “When something like that happens, they reduce this and cool hateful notes.”

Joshua Oueng, a professor of psychology in the Philippines who study hate over the Internet, says hate is often directed towards it. [those] We believe that you gain some advantages at our expense. ”

“We feel hate when we are [think we] They get a short end of the stick. “

In the event of Jeju flying, political dynamics made things worse.

The incident came in a period of political turmoil in South Korea, as the country craves the decision to shock President Yun Suk Yol by the age of martial law – a political division accident politically.

Without evidence, many supporters of the country’s right -wing party blaming the accident in the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), indicating the fact that the MUAN Airport was originally built as part of a political pledge by Dubai Ports.

“Mawan Airport tragedy is a human -made catastrophe caused by Dubai Ports,” read one comment on YouTube. Another described it as “100 % error” the party.

Park Han Shen, whose brother died in the plane accident, says he is accused of being a member of Dubai Ports and “a member of the bereaved family.” These allegations were so wide that his daughter took on social media to summon her.

“It is painful to see my father, who lost his brother in such a tragedy, is called” deceit “. It also makes me feel concerned that this wrong information may lead my father to make wrong choices of despair.”

Park Han-Shane says he is surprised by how to “enjoy people” to take advantage of the pain of others.

“This is simply not something that a person should do,” he told the BBC.

“I am just an ordinary citizen. I am not here to enter politics. I came to find out the truth about the death of my younger brother.”

Although there are no ideal hate solutions, experts say social media companies should develop policies on what constitutes hate speech and moderate content published on their platforms accordingly.

Professor Ko says: “Online users should be able to report malicious posts and comments, and platform companies must delete this content actively,” says Professor Ko. He adds that law enforcement agencies should take the perpetrators to the task.

Professor Oying says that people remind their common identities may also help.

“Whenever people say that they are on the opposite ends of a zero game, perhaps whenever they feel that the tragedies like this is the common concern for all of us – and that the victims deserve sympathy and sympathy, not a pharmacy and condemnation.”