Regulator makes over 3,000 requests for removal of suicide-related content since 2020

This Sept. 12 photo shows an anti-suicide event held by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Seoul. (Yonhap)

South Korea's telecommunications regulator has requested platforms to revise their content to delete information that can potentially induce suicide on 3,243 occasions since 2020, government data showed Monday.

From 2020 to August of this year, content with possibly suicide-inducing content have been reviewed by the Korea Communications Standards Commission on 4,100 occasions, according to the KCSS data submitted to Rep. Lee Jeong-heon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

The commission ordered revision of the content in 79 percent of the cases -- 752 in 2020, 713 in 2021, 1,046 in 2022, 466 in 2023, and 293 this year as of August.

Unlike what the numbers may suggest, reports concerning supposedly suicide-inducing content actually increased significantly after 2022. The KCSS explained that the subsequent drop is due to such content being deleted by the platform operators themselves, negating the need for government intervention.

Of the cases that required such intervention, X -- formerly Twitter -- accounted for the overwhelming majority of 3,032 requests by the KCSS. This figure dwarfed related requests for other online platforms -- three for Kakao, two for Google, zero for Instagram and one each for Naver, YouTube and Facebook.

In addition to reacting to reports about suicide-related information, the KCSS issued content revision requests based on its own monitoring of each platforms, which range from 71 in 2020 to 252 between Jan-Aug. of this year.

"Despite (Korea) ranking No.1 among OECD countries in suicide deaths, there isn't enough monitor or management of the suicide-inducing information spreading rapidly via the SNS. ... The KCSS must be alerted and reinforce manpower and budget to step up monitoring such content," Lee said.

The 2020 OECD data shows that South Korea had by far the highest suicide rate among the member nations, with 24.1 out of 100,000 people. Next on the list were Lithuania with 18.5, Slovenia with 15.7, Japan with 15.4 and Belgium with 14.8.

Rep. Lee also revealed another data he received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which showed that 60,807 people committed suicide since 2020. The leading cause was mental illness with 23,087, followed by financial problems at 15,729 and physical illnesses at 11,374.

* If you’re thinking about self-harm or suicide, contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s helpline at 109, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please request a translator for English-language services.