Dog poop girl

Dog poop girl refers to a 2005 incident in South Korea which was one of the first internationally reported occurrences of doxing. In a Seoul subway car, a young woman's lap dog defecated inside the train,[1] and the woman was photographed on another passenger's mobile phone camera after she did not clean up the mess despite numerous requests.[2] The photos were posted on a popular Korean website and widely distributed; the woman was later identified, and her personal information was published online.[3][4] The woman was publicly shamed, and quit her university.[5] Newspaper editorials then addressed the issues concerning Internet vigilantism and privacy concerns.[6]

Dog poop girl
Hangul
개똥녀
Hanja
개똥女
Revised RomanizationGaettongnyeo
McCune–ReischauerKaettongnyŏ

Incident

In early June 2005, the woman, who appears to be in her 20s, took her lap dog on Seoul Subway Line 2. Her dog defecated on the floor of the subway car and, when other riders requested that she clean up after it, she declined to do so. Another subway rider offered the woman a tissue, which she used to clean the dog but not its waste. Other passengers suggested she clean up the mess, she ignored the second group of 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.[3][4]

Reaction

Soon after the unaltered photos were published, Internet vigilante groups 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.[7][8][9]

The woman quit her university in shame and published a photo of her dog with a public apology.[5][10][11]

Criticism

The reaction by Korean Internet users to the incident prompted several Korean newspapers to run editorials voicing concern over Internet vigilantism, suggesting that the effect of worldwide crowds do not result in wise, uniform judgments and appropriate punishments via social stigma. Concerns regarding 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.[6]

According to Daniel J. Solove, a professor who specializes in privacy issues at George Washington University Law School, the case:

...involves a norm that most people would seemingly agree to -- clean up after your dog...But having a permanent record of one's norm violations is upping the sanction to a whole new level . . . allowing bloggers to act as a cyber-posse, tracking down norm violators and branding them with digital scarlet letters.[8]

See also

References
  1. The Tale of Dog Poop Girl Is Not So Funny After All Samantha Henig, Columbia Journalism Review JULY 7, 2005
  2. Jonathan Krim (7 July 2005). "Subway Fracas Escalates Into Test Of the Internet's Power to Shame". Washington Post.
  3. "Netizens Need 'Ethical Guidelines'". Hankyoreh Shinmun. 17 June 2005.
  4. JP (30 June 2005). "Puppy poo girl". Japundit. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
  5. Sarah Boxer (30 July 2005). "Internet's Best Friend (Let Me Count the Ways)". New York Times.
  6. "'Trial by Internet' Casts Spotlight on Korean Cyber Mobs". Chosun Ilbo. 8 July 2005. Archived from the original on 25 January 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
  7. Daniel Solove (30 June 2005). "Of Privacy and Poop: Norm Enforcement via the Blogosphere".
  8. Jonathan Krim (7 July 2005). "Subway Fracas Escalates Into Test Of the Internet's Power to Shame". Washington Post.
  9. "The Poop Heard Round the World". Aunty Spam. 7 July 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-12-16.
  10. The woman's apology, in Korean, with a picture of the dog
  11. Article about 'The woman's apology', in Korean
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