Some of you may already know what cancel culture is, and some of you may not. So, what exactly is cancel culture?. Basically, Cancel culture is a culture of mass boycotting someone who is considered problematic, for example when that person says or does something that is considered inappropriate or offensive. This mass boycott practice is usually followed by stopping support for that person.
One of the first countries that implement cancel culture is South Korea. South Korea is a country that produces its own communication technology innovations such as Line, Kakaotalk and etc. The rapid development of technology, supported by the incredible speed of the internet, is the main reason why the spread of information in South Korea is very fast.
South Korea and Indonesia are countries that are heavily influenced by the world of entertainment. In recent years the entertainment world has been dominated by South Korea, many Korean artists and influencers have made it internationally. These public figures must be ready to receive intense attention from the public. Public figures will become perfect figures in the eyes of the public who are expected to set a good example for the community. South Korea is a country that upholds moral values, if a public figure is exposed to a scandal and is considered to have violated moral values, the public figure will or can be canceled by the community.
the factors that cause cancel culture:
1. bullying
the perpetrator of bullying does not receive adequate consequences from formal institutions (such as schools, workplaces, or the law), society often takes matters into its own hands through cancel culture to deliver "social justice."
2. disrespectful behavior
In the digital era, disrespectful behavior that goes viral or is exposed on social media often provokes strong emotional reactions from the public. This accelerates the formation of public opinion demanding social sanctions against the perpetrator.
3. rude behavior
Rude behavior that goes viral on social media attracts widespread public attention. This creates collective pressure to impose social sanctions on the perpetrator, especially if the rude action is perceived to harm others or specific groups
4. indecent behavior
Indecent behavior that harms vulnerable or minority groups often triggers public outrage. Cancel culture is seen as a way to protect the rights of these groups and uphold justice.
5. sexual harassment
Movements like #MeToo have demonstrated the power of cancel culture in exposing perpetrators of sexual harassment and creating significant social change. This reinforces the perception that cancel culture is an effective tool for challenging injustice.
The impact of cancel culture
The impact of canceling felt by public figures such as the many rejections of their presence in any media, the cancellation of projects that are being carried out or that will be carried out, to the cancellation of work contracts for the public figure's company.
Example case of cancel culture in South Korea
An example of cancel culture in South Korea is the case of a celebrity named Song Ha-Yoon. Song Ha-Yoon is an actor who was born with the real name Kim Mi-sun on December 2, 1986 in Seoul, South Korea, became widely known through his role as Baek Seol-hee in the drama Fight for My Way (2017). Her popularity further increased after starring in the series Marry My Husband (2024), where she played the character Jeong Su-min. However, after the drama finished airing, Song Ha-Yoon became the center of attention due to controversies that surfaced in the media. The public has begun to discuss the news that Song Ha-Yoon was involved in bullying during her school days that led to her dropping out. The allegations stemmed from a post titled "I was a victim of bullying at Song Ha-yoon's school", in which the author claimed that the actress abused a schoolmate during her junior high school days. The case was also discussed in an episode of JTBC's social program Crime Chief, as reported by Korea JoongAng Daily on Thursday, August 15, 2024. According to a report by My Daily via Naver, the King Kong by Starship agency confirmed that Song Ha-yoon had indeed been expelled from school. However, they emphasized that this was not related to the allegations raised in the Crime Chief program on JTBC. In the statement released, the agency expressed their awareness of the seriousness of this issue. In order to ascertain the truth regarding the bullying allegations against Song Ha-yoon, they are attempting to contact the party who filed the report for furtherclarification. With this case, South Korea has canceled Song Ha-Yoon by not giving her any projects and not allowing her to appear on any TV shows.
