Images and messages displayed on a KakaoTalk user's profile can be perceived as a threat, a Seoul court said recently, acknowledging the popular messenger app’s potential use in illegal activities such as making threats or stalking.

In a case filed with the Seoul Central District Court, three parents accused the chief of a hagwon, or private education academy, of online threats by posting intimidating photos on his KakaoTalk profile that only they could see. Users of the mobile messenger can create multiple profiles, and make each profile visible for specific groups of people.

The court ordered the hagwon chief to cease the “obstruction of life” in a provisional disposition, acknowledging the plaintiff's claim that the defendant's KakaoTalk profile could be perceived as a threat.

A provisional disposition, which is similar to a preliminary injunction in US law, is granted before or during a trial to restore the status quo ante before the final judgment, or to make whole again one’s violated rights. The court, however, denied another plaintiff's request for a 100-meter ban. The plaintiffs are currently seeking damage compensation against the defendant for threats made via his KakaoTalk profile.

In March, the hagwon owner adjusted his KakaoTalk settings so that a certain profile would been visible to the plaintiffs only. It contained threatening photos and messages, including photos of a man dressed as a grim reaper, a woman holding bloodied scissors, people holding up weapons, and messages that hinted that the defendant was following their children.

Despite the significance KakaoTalk holds in social communications in South Korea, illegal activities committed via the app’s multi-profile feature has been in a legal gray zone here. Not many precedents exist, since the messenger only launched the function in January 2021.

In February of this year, a 26-year-old man was sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison for stalking his ex-girlfriend, but the court cleared him of the charges related to using KakaoTalk’s multi-profile feature to convey threatening messages to the victim. The court said posting a message on one’s profile cannot be regarded as part of stalking, since it takes an active effort on the victim's part to open and read the message in question.