Self-imposed censorship; There is no anonymity in Korean internet.

Self-imposed censorship, There is no anonymity in Korean internet.

Avatar and Nickname substitute for the real users on the net. People enjoy hiding their identity and play and live second life with the character that is either  similar to them or completely different from them. People also comment on sensitive political and social issues freely without revealing themselves online discussion forums. 

I strongly believe that anonymity makes people to express their opinions and complaints online discussion forums more freely. Moreover, user generated contents platforms have been also developed and flourished by internet users who participate actively with their second name and identities.

 However, there is a very unique regulation about real identity in South Korea. If you want to post comments on a website that gets more than 100,000 visitors a day, you must verify your real identity.

It is not only meant to give the host of the website your information but also to make the police to be able to find who you are and where you post whatever contents. 

 Usually users are asked to give verifiable information such as government ID and there is a government ID tracing system to verify whether the given ID is matched with your name. And normally you will be asked to give your mobile number and the website sends the certain number to your mobile and then you have to type the given number when you register to the website.

If someone like foreigners or people who live outside of Korea, well, you are free to be traced by the enforcement officers, but sorry, you are forbidden. You are not permitted to post anything on large websites since Korean government cannot find you to prosecute for anything that bothers people hold the seat of power.

All I have written so far includes much of my subjective understanding of current internet situation in South Korea.  However, it is ture that people on the Net are afraid of anything they post and warn each other of any given contents.

Great!  Korean government might celebrate by themselves for making perfect panopticon in Korean online environment.

Tags: Self-imposeed censorhip