Dog poop girl

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Dog poop girl
Hangul 개똥녀
Hanja 개똥女
Revised Romanization Gaettongnyeo
McCune-Reischauer Kaettongnyŏ

Dog poop girl was an incident on a South Korean subway that was recorded and published, resulting in a backlash by Internet vigilantes.

Contents

[edit] Incident

In early June 2005, the woman, who appears to be in her 20s took her lap dog on a subway in Korea. Her dog defecated on the floor of the subway car and, when asked by other elderly riders, she rudely declined to clean up after it. Another subway rider offered the woman a tissue, which she used to clean the dog but not its waste. When other passengers suggested she clean up the mess, she ignored the requests and departed the subway at the next stop. Another female commuter, using a camera phone, took several photographs of the woman and dog, and posted them on a popular Korean website.[1][2]

[edit] Reaction to the incident

Soon after the unaltered photos were published, Internet vigilantes closely examined the picture and within days she had been identified and her personal information released on the Internet. The photo quickly became one of the most popular image searches on popular Korean web portals and a source of parody and derisive satire.[3][4][5]

The woman quit her university in shame and published a photo of her dog and a public apology in Korean.[6][7][8]

[edit] Concerns

The reaction by Korean netizens to the incident prompted several Korean newspapers to run editorials voicing concern over Internet vigilantism, suggesting that the effect of world-wide crowds do not result in wise, uniform judgments and appropriate punishments via social stigma. The implications for personal privacy were raised. Some said that posting the woman's picture was acceptable, but that posting her personal information was inappropriate. Others said that her face should have been obscured in the widely circulated picture, in order to protect her identity.[9]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Netizens Need 'Ethical Guidelines'", Hankyoreh Shinmun, 2005 June 17. 
  2. ^ JP. "Puppy poo girl", Japundit, 2005 June 30. 
  3. ^ Daniel Solove. Of Privacy and Poop: Norm Enforcement via the Blogosphere. Balkinization. Retrieved on 2005-08-19.
  4. ^ Jonathan Krim. "Subway Fracas Escalates Into Test Of the Internet's Power to Shame", Washington Post, 2005 July 7. 
  5. ^ "The Poop Heard Round the World", Aunty Spam, 2005 July 10. 
  6. ^ Sarah Boxer. "Internet's Best Friend (Let Me Count the Ways)", New York Times, 2005 July 30. 
  7. ^ The woman's apology, in Korean, with a picture of the dog
  8. ^ Article about 'The woman's apology', in Korean
  9. ^ "'Trial by Internet' Casts Spotlight on Korean Cyber Mobs", Chosun Ilbo, 2005 July 8.