"My body is not your Porn": Identifying Trends of Harm and Oppression through a Sociotechnical Genealogy of Digital Sexual Violence in South Korea

TL;DR

This paper traces the evolution of digital sexual violence in South Korea across four eras, revealing how misogyny and harm are amplified through changing technologies, legal responses, and social practices, using a sociotechnical genealogical approach.

Contribution

It introduces a sociotechnical genealogical framework to analyze the historical evolution of digital sexual violence in South Korea, highlighting interconnected dimensions of harm and technological influence.

Findings

Identifies three key dimensions of DSV: obscenity fabrication, imperceptibility of violence, and commercialization of abuse.

Shows how misogyny is reconfigured through evolving digital technologies and social practices.

Highlights the importance of genealogical analysis in understanding sociotechnical configurations of harm.

Abstract

Ever since the introduction of internet technologies in South Korea, digital sexual violence (DSV) has been a persistent and pervasive problem. Evolving alongside digital technologies, the severity and scale of violence have grown consistently, leading to widespread public concern. In this paper, we present four eras of image-based DSV in South Korea, spanning from the early internet era of the 1990s to the deepfake scandals in the mid-2020s. Drawing from media coverage, legal documents, and academic literature, we elucidate forms and characteristics of DSV cases in each era, tracing how entrenched misogyny is reconfigured and amplified through evolving technologies, alongside shifting legislative measures. Taking a genealogical approach to read prominent cases of different eras, our analysis identifies three constitutive and interconnected dimensions of DSV: (1) the homo-social fabrication of "obscenity", wherein victims' imagery becomes collectively framed as obscene through participatory practices in male-dominant networks; (2) the increasing imperceptibility of violence, as technologies foreclose victims' ability to perceive harm; and (3) the commercialization of abuse through decentralized economic infrastructures. We suggest future directions for CSCW research, and further reflect on the value of the genealogical method in enabling non-linear understanding of DSV as dynamically evolving sociotechnical configurations of harm.