Ko Young-wook, a former member of the group Roo’Ra, returns home after being questioned at Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul on January 3, 2013. Yonhap News Agency
From KTimes
Former Roo’Ra member Go Young-wook, who served time in prison for sexual assault and indecent acts against a minor, has protested the closure of his YouTube channel and demanded that YouTube clarify the reason for its closure.
On August 23, Ko posted on his X account, “It appears that my YouTube channel was shut down overnight. I question why YouTube would apply non-existent rules to an individual simply because I’m a former inmate, especially since I haven’t uploaded any harmful content.”
On the 5th of this month, Ko announced the launch of his YouTube channel “Go! Young-wook GoDog Days,” saying, “I impulsively started this channel to escape from the listless daily routine of staying at home and growing old miserably.”
His first video featuring his dog garnered more than 300,000 views within 10 days, but YouTube shut down the channel after about two weeks after users reported it.
Regarding the closure, YouTube told the Hankook Ilbo, “The ‘GO! Yongwook’ channel was shut down in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines, which prohibit any actions that harm the YouTube community, even off-platform. The uploader will no longer be able to own or create any other YouTube channels.”
YouTube’s Creator Responsibility Guidelines state, “When creators’ actions, whether on or off YouTube, harm our users, communities, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect our community.”
Egregious violations that cause significant harm to our community may lead to actions beyond standard enforcement, such as removing monetization features.
YouTube Korea previously applied these guidelines to halt monetization for some “cyber-disruptor” YouTubers who profit from exposing negative issues, such as Caracula (real name Lee Se-wook) and Gujeyeok (Lee Jun-hee).
In response, Ko filed an appeal with YouTube’s owner Google on Monday to contest the removal of his channel. YouTube will review the appeal and decide whether to reinstate the channel.
Ko faced a similar problem in November 2020, when his Instagram account was shut down shortly after it was launched. Instagram bans individuals convicted of sex crimes from having accounts, due to concerns that such individuals could inspire copycat crimes or attract new victims if they regain popularity on social media.
Ko was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in 2013 for sexually assaulting and molesting three minors, and was released in 2015 after serving his full sentence. He was also ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device for three years and to register as a sex offender for five years.
This article was provided by The Korea Times’ sister publication, Hankook Ilbo, translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.