In South Korea, players of League of Legends can currently become quite rich – they just have to play extremely badly.
The Twist of Perpetrators and Victims
In recent months, a dubious trend has emerged in South Korea, where players of League of Legends are lured into expensive traps and seemingly bad gamers earn their livelihood: Complaints of online insults. In South Korea, there is a law against online insults with quite severe penalties. Those who become abusive towards their peers can face fines of up to $20,000 – or alternatively three years in prison.
Now, trolls of a special kind are taking advantage of this law: They join a game of League of Legends, introduce themselves to the entire team (so that everyone knows the name and it can be clearly assigned). Once the round starts, they primarily convince with poor gaming performance, die continuously, and feed the opposing team. If a teammate loses control and becomes abusive, the trap snaps shut. Screenshots of the chat are taken and sent directly to the police. If the alleged flamers then learn of their legal violation, the perpetrator intervenes again and offers an out-of-court solution – usually in the range of $300 to $2000.
While I personally welcome a law that punishes insults on the internet more severely, the system there is questionable and easily exploitable. It should deter trolls but has instead turned into a job.
