"Lee Jaemyung a Gangster?"... Malicious Fake News Spreaders 'Reported to Authorities'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Youngkyu] A total of 90 fake news cases that continuously and maliciously spread false information about Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jaemyung will now face legal judgment.

The COVID-19 Fake News Response Task Force, co-chaired by lawyers Baek Jongdeok, Choi Jeongmin, and Seo Seongmin, announced on the 31st that it had filed complaints with the Gwangju Police Station and the Bundang Police Station on the 29th regarding 90 cases suspected to be false information related to Governor Lee.

Earlier in June, the task force established an online reporting center (https://bit.ly/코로나19_가짜뉴스_신고센터) to support Gyeonggi Province and the governor in focusing on COVID-19 prevention efforts.

The reported fake news includes claims that have already been proven groundless, such as: allegations that the governor is linked to organized crime, rumors of confining a disabled person in an elevator, accusations that the governor murdered a friend of 30 years, claims of forcibly hospitalizing his older brother, and allegations of the governor being associated with Ilbe.

Co-chair Baek Jongdeok stated, "Even more absurd fake news has emerged," and added, "The range is wide, from the laughable claim that Governor Lee Jaemyung was a gang member, to the malicious fake news that he 'turned off the power to an elevator and confined disabled people inside' during his term as mayor of Seongnam, even though the elevator was never out of operation."

Baek particularly emphasized, "Once fake news is spread, it tends to become even more maliciously distorted and does not easily disappear even after the truth is revealed." He continued, "A representative example is the fake news claiming that the governor murdered a 'friend of 30 years' who is in fact alive and well, yet there are still people spreading this rumor."

He explained, "Following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the conviction and remand the case for a not-guilty verdict, we expect that even more fake news will be systematically circulated as expectations for the governor have risen. Therefore, we plan to strengthen continuous and real-time monitoring."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.