South Korean women hold record mass rally against "spycam porn" - Sensationalist Headlines

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/south-korea-women-hold-record-mass-rally-against--spycam-porn--10589478 SEOUL: Tens of thousands of South Korean women staged a mass rally in Seoul on Saturday (Aug 4) to protest against spycam porn, urging tougher punishments for peeping Toms as anger over the growing scourge boils over. Since May, the monthly demonstration in Seoul has shattered records to become the biggest-ever women's protest in South Korea where the global #MeToo movement has unleashed an unprecedented wave of female-led activism. The primary cause of the protests are so-called spycam videos in a tech-savvy country where news of men caught secretly filming women in schools, offices, trains, or even toilets has made headlines on a daily basis. Organisers said Saturday's event drew 70,000 participants, ten thousand more than the previous month's rally, despite an unprecedented summer heatwave that has pushed the mercury above 37 degrees. "Women's toilets in this country are infested with spycams! Please please crack down on the crimes," the women chanted in unison at the city's Gwanghwamun Plaza which routinely hosts mass rallies.Some waved banners with slogans such as: "We can't live like this anymore" and "South Korea: the nation of spycams." Asia's fourth-largest economy takes pride in its tech prowess, from ultra-fast Internet to cutting-edge smartphones. But these advances have also given rise to an army of tech-savvy perverts, with videos widely shared in internet chatrooms and on file-sharing sites, or used as adverts for websites promoting prostitution or gambling. The number of such spycam crimes reported to police has surged from around 1,100 in 2010 to more than 6,500 last year, with the offenders ranging from school teachers and college professors to church pastors and even a court judge. The protestors are demanding that the government toughen punishments for offenders - most of whom are fined or receive suspended jail terms - and shutter websites hosting the footage. Most participants at Saturday's rally hid their faces with hats, sunglasses or surgical facial masks. Some South Koreans who have previously joined protests in support of women's rights have faced online bullying and harassment. The South remains deeply conservative and patriarchal despite economic and technological advances. The crimes have become so prevalent that the South's female police officers inspect women's toilets in public venues including subway stations on a regular basis with special detectors for spycam videos that may be hidden inside stalls. Although all manufacturers of smartphones sold in the South are required to ensure their devices make a loud shutter noise when taking photos - a move designed to curb covert filming - many offenders use special apps that mute the sound, or turn to high-tech spy cameras hidden inside eye glasses, lighters, watches, car keys and even neckties.

Good riddance. I hope the loud shutter noise on mobile phones is required in every other country too. Its fucked up that girls have to worry about this when just being in public places.

Eh, nah. This is one of those well intentioned but flawed ideas that doesn't actually do anything. Anyone remotely keen on filming covertly is going to find a way to disable the sound or use a device that doesn't make one. All it's doing is inconveniencing people that don't want a loud shutter noise on their phone.

Funny, because every phone in Japan has that. Its because perverts use them in subways during peak hours.

Maybe if the government didn't make porn illegal, people wouldn't resort to such drastic measures. It'll be hilarious/sad if the same thing starts happening in the UK.

I do believe you meant to say peek hours. This, but at the same time, it may at least lower the number of people doing it though, as it'd suddenly become a bit more difficult to do and people wouldn't bother.

wait... porn is illegal in south korea? What a shitty country.

From what I recall, it's illegal to produce, possess, and distribute. Apparently it's legal to stream, though. Even though South Korea separately blocks several porn sites, if you can manage to find one, it's not illegal to watch. Anyone who knows more about South Korea's porn laws, feel free to correct me. I'd hate to be spreading misinformation.