Middle school student disciplined for ‘group cyberbullying’… Court ruling to “cancel”

A middle school student who was subject to community service disciplinary action for group cyberbullying in a group messenger chat room filed a lawsuit to have the punishment revoked and won.

On the 10th of last month, the Daegu District Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by middle school student A against the head of the Uljin Office of Education in Gyeongsangbuk-do to cancel the disciplinary action against school violence, saying, “The 6 hours of community service imposed by the defendant on the plaintiff should be canceled.”

Last year, Person A was referred to the School Violence Measures Review Committee on the grounds that he and other students from the same school had defamed Person B by swearing at him and spreading false information in a messenger chat room. The Office of Education, which investigated the incident, ordered A to do 6 hours of community service.

Group A, who was dissatisfied with this, filed an administrative lawsuit. He said that he had never sworn, and that he only passively participated without understanding the context of the chat room. In addition, it was claimed that the Office of Education did not specifically specify 'acts recognized as school violence' in the process of imposing community service.

The Office of Education refuted this. This is because Group A agreed with the words of other assailants and went along with the cyber bullying of Group B. He also emphasized that the actions that were subject to review were specifically indicated during the school violence committee notification process.

The court ruled in favor of Army A.

The court said, "It is difficult to say that the plaintiff's comments in the chat room amount to insults that could lower the victim's social evaluation," and added, "They are simply passive and incidental comments such as retorting or ending the conversation, and cannot be seen as spreading actual false information or making comments criticizing the victim."

However, the claim that the reason for the disposition was not specified was not accepted, saying, "The plaintiffs attended the school violence committee and fully stated their opinions, and during this process, they would have been able to fully understand the basis and reason for the community service disposition."

Lawyer Jeon Hyeong-oh of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, explained, "When reviewing defamation or insults that constitute school violence under the School Violence Prevention Act, it is necessary to sufficiently review whether it meets the requirements of criminal law for performance," and "The remarks made by Mr. A in the chat room did not satisfy any criminal elements such as insults or defamation."

Reporter Kwon Byeong-seok (bsk730@fnnews.com)

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Middle school student disciplined for ‘group cyberbullying… Court ruling of “cancellation” (go)