Popular YouTuber Sojang is now mired in legal battles. Popular for her output on K-pop icons, Sojang is charged with multiple counts of defamation by K-pop sensation Kang Daniel.
“Infamous YouTuber Sojang (35 years old) was spotted disguising herself with a wig and glasses to attend another trial for defamation against Kang Daniel.
She previously lost a ₩100 million defamation lawsuit to IVE’s Wonyoung. PIC.TWITTER.COM/GZ2WBTD9AF
— Pop Base (@PopBase) MAY 27, 2024
In many instances, the content Sojang produces, primarily containing personal information about K-pop performers, results in a public backlash against her. She has been accused of problems ranging from defamation against certain artists to accusations against IVE’s Jang Wonyoung and Kang Daniel. The allegations all relate to a long series of YouTube videos.
On June 15, 2022, she parodied a video on her channel called “Dirty Private Life of National Boyfriend Actors and Idols.” It contained fabricated information about some male celebrities and has been the center of the charges of defamation.
Although she confessed to making and uploading the video, Sojang said that she was not aware that the content was false. She claimed that it was not slander since, on her part, she thought the information in the video was true.
Her defense, through her lawyer, would take the same line of reasoning: to be able to charge her, prosecutors must prove that there was indeed evidence that the video allegations were baseless. The scene was, therefore, set for a possible legal tussle on what holds online and the liability of content creators about these celebrities that were later contested as false.
On May 27, she attended her first court trial since being indicted for defamation. She could defend herself in court during the last trial by claiming that the content of her video was based on some information that she had reason to believe was true. However, the court did not side with her this time in the case involving IVE’s Jang Wonyoung. She has been ordered to make reparations of the plaintiffs through Starship Entertainment, which is the company representing IVE, in an amount of 100 million KRW.
The Kang Daniel case is filled with accusations and allegations still at the hearing stages. Sojang formed the core of the case with the video “The Dirty Private Life of National Boyfriend Actors and Idols,” in which she made allegations against Daniel. She has admitted to making and posting the video but states specifically that she did not know that the content was false.
Officials said that between October 2021 and June this year, Sojang uploaded over 22 such fake videos with famous personalities. As a result, she received over 59,000 subscribers to her channel and thus earned around 10 million KRW a month. It is estimated that by posting every video on the platform, she may have garnered approximately 250 million KRW. Incidentally, the YouTube channel Sojang has been shown the door recently.
Sojang’s is a chilling example of what online disparagement can sometimes do. It should be a good enough pointer that the trespass on people’s privacy and dignity, especially by sharing malicious lies against a public figure, will land someone in deep trouble with the law.
Let’s hope this incident will serve as a wake-up call to content creators on their responsibility when disseminating information online. After all, the power of the internet should never be used for harm but for inspiration, entertainment, and education. Let’s all build a digital-intelligent world that lives upon these values. 🙏🏼
