Sentences of imprisonment have been finalized for YouTubers indicted on charges of spreading false information related to the ‘Jeju Air passenger plane disaster’ that occurred in December of the year before last at Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do.
According to legal circles on the 6th, the Supreme Court’s Second Division (Presiding Justice Kwon Young-jun) dismissed the appeal of A, a male YouTuber in his 60s, who was indicted on charges including defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act on the 5th, and upheld the lower court’s ruling of 3 years in prison. A sentence of 8 months in prison was also finalized for B, an 80-year-old male YouTuber, who faced the same charges.
A and others posted over 100 videos on YouTube for a month following the Jeju Air disaster on December 29, 2024, claiming “the Jeju Air passenger plane accident did not actually occur,” “the accident footage was a fabricated video processed with computer graphics (CG),” and “the bereaved families were actors who appeared during the Sewol and Itaewon crowd crush incidents,” damaging the reputations of victims and their families.
The first trial stated, “Producing false videos filled with baseless speculations and conspiracies for personal gain regarding the unfortunate accident and posting them on YouTube, accessible to an unspecified audience, makes the nature of the crime severe,” sentencing A to 3 years and B to 1 year in prison.
The second trial maintained A’s 3-year...
Sentences of imprisonment have been finalized for YouTubers indicted on charges of spreading false information related to the ‘Jeju Air passenger plane disaster’ that occurred in December of the ye...