S. Korea’s Naver portal takes steps to protect stars online

SEOUL • K-culture fans have long asked for more to be done to curb netizens who harass celebrities.

Now, Naver has joined the fight to protect the welfare of artists in the wake of the deaths of two singers - Sulli and Goo Hara - last year.

Both had reportedly been slammed by haters over their romantic lives.

Naver, South Korea's largest Web portal, will stop publishing comments linked to entertainment news for now, reported The Korea Herald.

In a statement on Wednesday, the company said: "We acknowledge that the current technological efforts aren't enough to relieve the pain felt by celebrities and have decided to close the comment section for entertainment news until a further structural overhaul."

Kakao, which operates the second-largest portal Daum and messaging app KakaoTalk, had already taken that route in October last year.

Naver's move to boost stars' mental health has got the thumbs up.

Ms Kwak Geum-joo, a professor of psychology at Seoul National University, said reading hateful comments posted online can be more damaging than hearing similar comments in person.

"If someone doesn't like you at work, you are aware of who he or she is," she said.

"When it's online and from the unknown, you grow nervous and suspicious of people, and this can lead to depression and fear of people."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 22, 2020, with the headline S. Korea’s Naver portal takes steps to protect stars online. Subscribe