Advertisement
South Korea
This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

What the ‘death by text’ of an Asian-American college student and Sulli’s K-pop tragedy say about toxic social media

  • The death of Filipino-American Alexander Urtula, whose South Korean girlfriend sent him thousands of abusive text messages, has shocked communities on both sides of the Pacific
  • His case should force a rethink of laws and attitudes to social media and gender-based bullying, experts say

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Alexander Urtula and girlfriend In-young You. Photo: Suffolk County district attorney
Crystal Tai
The death of a Filipino-American Boston College student who took his own life after being subjected to repeated psychological, verbal and physical abuse by his girlfriend highlights a need to re-examine laws and attitudes towards social media and gender-based bullying, experts say.
Advertisement
In a case that has grabbed headlines in both Asia and America, the South Korean national In-young You, 21, has been indicted by prosecutors in the United States on an involuntary manslaughter charge after sending tens of thousands of abusive text messages to Alexander Urtula, who jumped to his death from a parking garage in May shortly before his graduation ceremony.

In America, the case has been seized upon as the country’s second so-called “death by text” case, compared by some to that of high school student Conrad Roy III, whose long-distance girlfriend Michelle Carter was sentenced to 15 months in prison for encouraging him to take his own life. That case prompted the introduction of a bill calling for a “Conrad’s Law”, which would punish those guilty of “suicide coercion” with up to five years in prison.

Michelle Carter was jailed for 15 months for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy III to take his own life. Photo: AP
Michelle Carter was jailed for 15 months for encouraging her boyfriend Conrad Roy III to take his own life. Photo: AP
In Korea, meanwhile, You’s home country and where she is reportedly living pending a request by US prosecutors for her to return to America for trial, parallels have been drawn to the death of K-pop star Sulli, who took her own life in mid-October after receiving malicious abuse online.

Sulli’s death prompted the Korean government to suggest a “Sulli’s Law”, which would give internet service providers the ability to delete hate comments and restrict the IP addresses of those posting them. The Korean assembly member Park Dae-chul has also proposed a law that would require the IP addresses of online users to appear next to their online ID.

Advertisement