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Think twice about what you do in front of a camera
By Jung Min-ho
Kim's boyfriend in college had asked her to look into his camera while they were having sex. She obliged as the video was supposed to be viewed between them only.
But after their relationship abruptly ended, her ex-boyfriend decided there was no reason to keep his end of the promise. He posted the video online for random people to watch and download it. He also posted her name and school to make sure that everyone knew who they were watching having sex.
The video circulated heavily among Internet users almost instantly.
In panic, Kim asked portal sites to delete the video, but it was too late. Soon, her friends and family became aware of it. She then shut herself off from all social aspects of life in shame for many years.
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Nobody is safe
Kim's painful experience is hardly a rare one in these times of ubiquitous smartphones and social media.
The relative ease with which it took to find the victims and perpetrators for this story suggests that "revenge porn," or ex-lovers distributing sexual images without the subject's consent, is already a grave social problem that is spreading at an alarming rate.
Officials at Korean Womenlink, a women's rights organization, say that they have counseled 26 women from last year to June this year who wanted to know how to respond to their nude photos or sex videos that were leaked online.
"The most destructive part of the problem is that, once the file is leaked, it will never disappear," said Jung-Ha Kyeoung-ju, an official from the group.
Some of the victims suffer from the psychological torment of these leaks for years. There are just too many pornographic websites on the Internet to detect and destroy the images, especially when they are run on foreign servers.
Jung-Ha said most perpetrators are former boyfriends, and what they want varies from sex to money.
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Singer Ailee, left, recently went through a difficult time after a man, who to some media outlets claimed to be her ex-boyfriend, leaked topless photos of her on the Internet. Prosecutors in Seoul are investigating the ex-manager of actress Han Hyo-joo, right, for trying to extort money from her father by threatening to publish private photos of the actress taken with her |
"Most victims are unwilling to take their case through the legal system in fear that it might get the files to be more known to the public," Jung said. "So, some exploit their fear, threatening the women with ‘files' they do not even have."
She said, "However, not standing up to them only encourages them to repeat their actions because they think the threat works." Despite her strong stance on dealing with it, out of the 26 victims who called, only two sued the perpetrators.
The number, 26, doesn't accurately represent how common the issue is. There are far more victims who aren't seeking help.
From April, just three volunteers of the Korean Womenlink found 150 video files, leaked without the person's consent, on five Korean file-sharing websites in a three-month period.
It's not just photos or videos. All types of personal attacks and accusations against people appear on Facebook seemingly every day, many of them including private data.
"Some do it just to get attention," said Won Jong-jin, a college student. "We should think about the feeling of the victims before clicking ‘like' on it."
It was in 2003 that Kim's video was leaked, but her file is still available on many websites after a decade. Kim later changed her name and got a job in an English Language institute, but she had to quit because her employer recognized her face.
"Imagine going to the office and having someone recognize you on the first day of work because he saw you on the Internet," Kim's former colleague, who refused to be named, said. "Kim's case made me fear that I'm not safe from the danger, either."
Lee, another one of Kim's former colleagues, said she turns off all the lights when having sex with her boyfriend after she learned of the case.
"Think about it. We all have cameras in our bags and are somehow connected on Facebook or Twitter. What if someone wants to use the camera, SNS and everything he knows to destroy you?" Lee said.
Laws: slap on the wrist
According to the Special Act for the Sexual Crime of Violence, which was revised in April, those who video-record their sexual acts and distribute it without the consent of their partner could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison or 10 million won ($9,431) in fines.
However, if the partner grants their consent to the recording, the ceiling of the punishment is lowered to three years in prison and 5 million won in fines.
It's an improvement, regarding the fact that it was difficult to punish such cases before the revision. Nonetheless, it is still difficult to hold the perpetrators accountable for revenge porn, if they use servers overseas even though many websites are accessible from here. And it's rare to see a prison sentence.
Also, considering the victims' damage such as "severe depression, social isolation, being unable to work and frequent suicidal impulse," many people believe the current law is inadequate.
In California, lawmakers passed legislation this fall aimed specifically at criminalizing revenge porn. Once passed, it will be a felony that could result in a five-year prison term.
The Korean Womenlink counselor, Jung-Ha, however, believes strengthening punishment will have little effect on solving the problem.
"What really matters is how people see the victims. In many cases, they get all the blame," Jung-Ha said. "It's not their fault. We should treat victims as victims. We need a mature civic awareness."
The mind of the perpetrator
A 29-year-old business man, Park, has nude photos and videos of five women he previously dated.
"When I was recording it, I knew it could be a sword over her head, if I wanted it to be," Park said.
But aside from his best friend, "No one saw the files." He said he has no intention of hurting his former girlfriends by putting the files online. However, in the case of one ex-lover, he said he would if he could.
"I would use them to hurt my first girlfriend in college. Unfortunately, we didn't have such videos 10 years ago," he said. "In anger, I just visited her place and swore at her. There wasn't much I could do."
With technologies developed in the past decade, it is now much easier for anyone to record whatever they do by using a built-in high pixel camera.
"It could be a fun thing just between boyfriend and girlfriend. It only becomes a problem when it is leaked to the public," Park said.
He made it clear that all the files were made with his former girlfriends' consent.
"Women are very cautious at first. But once they trust you, they allow you (to video record her while having sex). I'm not sure it's the case for everyone, but it was for me," he said.
Avoiding being victimized by revenge porn is actually quite simple.
"Be careful of what you are doing in front of a camera. Think about what could happen later even if you think you have a stable relationship with your partner," he said.
"Maybe he suggests you give it a try and delete it right away. He might promise that it will be only for his eyes. Trust me. Don't believe him."
