The World On arirang

Racist expressions, gender discrimination and online posts inciting terrorism and hatred are all serious social issues emerging in the digital age that have vastly spread in a matter of a couple of years. Accordingly, an increasing number of people are calling for the regulation of discriminatory and hateful expressions rampant on the online sphere. In Germany, up to 65 billion won could be fined if social media firms do not delete inappropriate content within 24 hours while Japan is increasing penalties regarding online stalking. The U.S. is also seeking to increase penalties for individuals that express hatred for certain religious and ethnic groups which can lead to crimes in real life. On the other hand, some argue that such regulations are likely to violate freedom of expression or be politically abused. On this week's [The Point: World Affairs], we discuss about how nations are responding to hateful content on social networks and whether there are any fundamental solutions to this problem.