According to News1 on the 12th, Judge Lee Jung-hoon of the Seoul Western District Court ruled in favor of Director Kim Hee-young in a damages lawsuit against YouTuber A on the 21st of last month. The court ordered the YouTuber to pay 20 million won out of the approximately 30 million won requested by Kim Hee-young.
Last August, YouTuber A posted false claims about Director Kim Hee-young and her daughter on their channel twice. The videos reportedly included claims about their past actions and private lives, allegations that there was a hidden man in Kim Hee-young’s life, and assertions that her violin donations were merely “fake kindness.” At the time, the channel had about 60,000 subscribers, and the two videos combined for 480,000 views.
Kim Hee-young’s side argued that their honor, privacy, and personality rights were severely damaged by the false information, leading to significant emotional distress. The court agreed, noting that “defamation via the internet spreads rapidly to an unspecified number of people” and “serves as a basis for other writers to commit additional illegal acts.”
The court also noted that even if YouTuber A pays the damages, it is unlikely that the perceptions held by general internet users or YouTube viewers regarding Director Kim will change.
However, the court set the compensation amount at 20 million won, taking into account that YouTuber A deleted all the videos and closed the channel, and that many of the false claims were rumors already circulating in online communities.
Meanwhile, YouTuber A filed an appeal on the 7th, and the case will be reviewed again in the appellate court.
