SK boycott Kakao Talk social media service after president's rumour complaints

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South Koreans boycott Kakao Talk social media service after president's rumour complaints

Users switch from leading Kakao Talk to rival after president complains of cyberspace insults

PUBLISHED : Monday, 06 October, 2014, 4:28am
UPDATED : Monday, 06 October, 2014, 4:28am

Associated Press in Seoul

Kakao Talk has global ambitions. Photo: AP

Thousands of people in South Korea are boycotting Kakao Talk, the country's leading social media service, after the president announced a crackdown on rumours about her circulating in cyberspace.

Prosecutors announced the crackdown two weeks ago after President Park Geun-hye complained about insults directed at her and said false rumours "divided the society."

Users of Kakao Talk, which is popular among 35 million of South Korea's 50 million people, were not impressed and it prompted a surge of interest in a previously little known German competitor, Telegram.

Research firm Rankey.com said an estimated 610,000 South Korean smartphone users visited Telegram on Wednesday, a 40-fold increase before the crackdown was announced.

On Friday, Telegram was the most downloaded free app in Apple's App Store in South Korea. On Google store, Telegram was the second most downloaded free communications app, behind only Kakao Talk.

South Korean users left reviews on Telegram saying they left Kakao Talk to seek "asylum".

Park ordered the justice ministry to investigate unfounded stories in cyberspace last month. She complained about insults about her and said online rumours have "gone too far and divided the society," according to the presidential office's website.

Two days later, prosecutors announced the launch of a team to monitor online information. They said anyone who posts or passes on information deemed false will face punishment. And, they said that for "grave matters," investigations will begin without waiting for complaints. News reports say authorities will only monitor public posts on Twitter, Facebook, online forums and web portals, not private messages exchanged on online messengers.

Officials at Kakao Talk said authorities cannot look at users' messages without a court order.

The uproar threatens to slow adoption of social media or send South Korean users to foreign services, undercutting government ambitions to build a high-tech "creative economy."

"It will definitely limit the number of new sign-ups, as users opt for services which are not subject to monitoring," said Jon Bradford, a managing director at start-up accelerator TechStars in London. "Any policies that the Korean authorities only impose upon local businesses will damage their competitiveness both at home and abroad."

South Korea is one of the world's most wired societies, with 85 per cent of people online and 40 million smartphones. The government has promised more support for tech start-ups.

Kakao Talk's dilemma echoes criticism of US technology companies following disclosures of widespread government surveillance. Internet companies have struggled to reassure users while saying they are legally obligated to cooperate with the authorities.

Park's government has been sensitive about the web and social media after it came under criticism following a ferry sinking in April that killed 300 people, most of them high school students.

Yong Hye-in, a 24-year-old college student, complained her friends were targeted for unjustified data collection after she was detained during a protest in May demanding government action over the ferry disaster.