Time to rein in extreme YouTubers

It turned out that the shocking violence in a political event on Monday — just eight days before the June 23 national convention of the governing People Power Party (PPP) to elect its new leadership — was committed by extreme political YouTubers. The PPP accused three of them of obstruction of business to the police the following day. After a YouTuber supporting Won Hee-ryong repeatedly shouted “Betrayer!” when his rival Han Dong-hoon was making a speech, another YouTuber supporting Han hit the YouTuber on the back of his head, which triggered a visceral fight between the two. The fight was soon joined by another YouTuber who supports Won.

YouTubers’ extreme behavior is nothing new. But the latest episode shows how much our politics was polluted by reckless words and actions by YouTubers even in the conservative front. The rapid increase in political YouTubers represents the perfect match of interests between them and politicians.

Traditional media outlets like newspapers and television tend to take a neutral stance toward contested issues, as they prioritize facts and their target audience is the general public. But YouTubers are different. They can spread biased news to their own audiences whenever the need arises. For politicians, they can serve as an effective means to draw support from voters.

But the side effects of such YouTubers are alarming. As they cherish ideology over independence, they even disseminate wild rumors surrounding politicians and use substandard comments only to make profits. This turned YouTube into a hotbed of political incitement, which caused the level of our politics to deteriorate even further.

YouTube also fuels political polarization. Only a balanced presentation of different views can strike a balance. But if subscribers only listen to their favorite YouTubers, their perspectives will be twisted even further. If it reaches a certain point, they will turn deaf ears to different opinions. This critically damages the values of compromise and embrace, as we have seen on the political stage of this country.

Worse, Korea does not have any regulations on YouTubers despite their growing influence on real politics. The European Union introduced the Digital Services Act (DSA) last year to ensure YouTubers remove fake news and expressions of hatred on their platforms. Korea must learn from the move in Europe. Besides, the demand for regulations on so-called “cyber wreckers” also grows fast after a famous YouTuber was threatened by other YouTubers over her tainted past. The time has come for the government and society to find an effective solution to control extreme YouTubers before it’s too late.