Inquiry
There are two individuals involved: the alleged perpetrator (“A”) and a third party (“B”).
B sent A an Instagram direct message (DM) regarding A’s inappropriate behavior. A assumed that I was the person who had sent the message. A, who appears to have harbored negative feelings toward me for some time, told B, “I know who you are. Aren’t you the same?” B then asked A, “Do you know who I am? Who do you think I am?”
A responded by saying, “You’re this person,” and, without my consent, sent B a photograph of me that had been illegally taken on the street, along with screenshots of my personal social media account. In other words, A distributed my photograph and personal information to B without my consent.
B subsequently contacted me via Instagram DM, telling me that A had said these things and had sent B my photograph. B asked, “Is this you? Do you also engage in this kind of inappropriate behavior?” B thereby informed me that my photograph had been distributed.
As a result, my face and personal information were disclosed to a person I do not know. The “inappropriate behavior” referred to by A was allegedly being a sasaeng fan of a celebrity. I have never engaged in such conduct, yet I have been given a negative reputation by a stranger based on false allegations.
I am particularly concerned because, although A possessing a photograph of me is itself troubling, I have no idea who B is. I am now living with the fear that my photograph and personal information may be distributed to other strangers, accompanied by false claims that I am a sasaeng fan of a particular celebrity.
I would like to know whether I can file a criminal complaint against A for illegal filming and defamation for secretly photographing me and being the first person to distribute the photograph.
For reference, I have retained the complete conversation history and all relevant evidence.
Response
If the photograph taken without your consent is of a nature that could cause sexual shame or humiliation, the conduct may constitute an offense involving illegal filming under Korea’s criminal law. However, unless the circumstances fall within the specific statutory requirements for an illegal-filming offense, secretly taking a photograph of an individual, by itself, would generally not appear to result in criminal punishment solely on the grounds of portrait rights infringement or similar violations.
Furthermore, A’s act of sending your photograph to B alone may make it difficult to establish the required possibility of dissemination to an unspecified number of people, and therefore it may be difficult to establish cyber defamation. However, if B subsequently sends the photograph to other people or posts it online while making defamatory statements about you, B may be subject to criminal liability for cyber defamation.
In addition, if A sent the photograph and defamatory statements to B while knowing that B would distribute them to other people, A may also potentially be held criminally liable for cyber defamation.
If the circumstances described above apply, it would be advisable to consult with an attorney and file a criminal complaint with the police so that the matter can be formally investigated and appropriate legal action can be taken.