Rules, Ratings and Controversies

Comics that anyone can read on a phone raise questions about who may read what, who decides, and what happens when a story, a contract or a drawing causes a row. This chapter covers the rating and regulation framework as far as the sources go, then reports four disputes, each as a set of claims with owners and, where the articles say so, a result. It takes no side on the people involved.

Ratings

The Webtoon article says that "in the past, it was divided into two ratings: All (webtoon suitable for all ages) and 18 (No one under 18 is allowed to read this webtoon)". It continues: "From May 2019, the webtoon rating system was implemented. It is said that 10 platforms including Naver and Daum will participate. The ratings are expected to be All, 12 years or older, 15 years or older, 19 years old (18 years old) or older."

The wording is tentative: "it is said", "will participate" and "are expected to be". The article does not say whether the system came into force as described, which platforms joined, or who set it up. It also says "19 (18)" without explaining the two numbers. So the safe summary is that the article reports a move from a two-level to a four-level system around May 2019, and gives no detail I could check.

The Rules Around Online Comics

• Online versus print. The Webtoon article says "in the case of South Korea, there are also different censorship laws for materials published online than in print which has led to more comics that are erotic and sexually explicit being produced and published as webtoons". The Manhwa article says webtoons "helped [creators] get around strict South Korean censorship laws". Chapter 2 found that print comics faced censorship laws and a distribution monopoly by the mid-1960s, with no detail after that. So the articles agree that the online route was less restricted than print, and neither names a law.
• Age-restricted works. The Internet censorship in South Korea article says that since the 2010s, "regulations have been relaxed" and that sexually explicit works "that were previously illegal have been legally classified as 'harmful media for youth' (청소년유해매체물), primarily in the form of webtoons, subject to mandatory age verification", with limits on what may be depicted. It does not name the law or give a year.
• The regulator. The same article says the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) was created in 2008 to replace an earlier committee, and that it may suspend a posting for 30 days "as soon as a complaint is filed". That passage is about internet content generally, and it does not mention webtoons.

The article's tone is critical, and it frames South Korea's rules as strict. I report its description and take no position on whether the rules are too strict or too lax.

Four Disputes, as Reported

1. Lezhin Comics and its creators (2017–2018)

The Lezhin Comics article lists these events and attributes each to a report or a statement:

• September 2017. A creator announced on social media, at the end of her contract, that she had been pushed to keep working on her webtoon while ill. The Korean Webtoon Authors Association issued a statement about Lezhin's late-delivery penalty of up to 9% of monthly income (Chapter 8).
• November 2017. Lezhin announced it would end the late penalty by 1 February 2018, with a three-month period to negotiate contracts.
• December 2017. An article "reported a blacklist Lezhin had for their artists, which specifically excluded them from advertisements and promotional events". Lezhin denied it.
• January 2018. SBS reported "a leaked email to exclude several works from the main page". Lezhin announced it would end its contracts with two authors, EunSong and Michii, who said they learned of it from social media, not from Lezhin; Lezhin "later stated that they would take legal action against EunSong and Michii for the spread of false rumors". A protest was held at Lezhin's office on 11 January, and a forum "organized by the culture ministry" was held late in the month on "abusive practices within the industry".
• July 2018. Lezhin's CEO "officially acknowledged and apologized for the allegation that it created a blacklist" and for the confusion after the discontinuation of its web novel platform.

2. A warning over an adaptation

The Backstreet Rookie article says the 2020 series is based on the webtoon She's Too Much for Me (2016–2017). It reports that the KCSC "issued a warning to the show for airing provocative and inappropriate scenes". The article quotes the commission's note: "in the process of producing an R-rated webtoon into a TV series with a rating of 15 years old and older, the drama production team has shown that it lacks consideration in portraying different genders and produced content that can cause viewers discomfort and aversion". It adds that the KCSC "has received over 7,000 complaints". This is a regulatory warning, not a ban, and the article gives no penalty. It is also a case of the rating gap in practice: a work rated for adults on one medium turned into a programme with a younger rating on another. The article gives no date for the warning.

3. A hand gesture and a platform's edits

The Finger pinching conspiracy theory article describes an online campaign, first prominent in May 2021, in which people claimed that a hand gesture shown in advertisements and media carried a hidden insult placed by a political group. The article calls this "an antifeminist conspiracy theory" and says it persists "despite contradictory claims and a general lack of evidence"; that is the article's framing, which I report and do not endorse or reject. For webtoons, it says Webtoon "became a subject of constant disputes for the company's policies over the fingers", and that Return of the Blossoming Blade and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint "were criticized for censoring the alleged depiction of finger pinching hand gestures", with opponents of the theory calling Naver's actions "inconsistent censorship and misogynic". The article also reports that the dispute led companies to spend "extra resources" altering advertisements to avoid complaints, citing the Chosun Ilbo. I read only that passage and the opening, I did not read the article's treatment of the accusers' side, and the article says nothing about the platform's own reasons for the edits.

4. A plagiarism claim

The Hyde Jekyll, Me article says the author of the webtoon the 2015 series was based on "alleged on his Twitter account that the screenwriter of Kill Me, Heal Me plagiarized his work", since both series are about a woman who falls in love with a man with dissociative identity disorder and aired in the same time slot. MBC "denied the plagiarism accusation", and SBS "clarified that Lee's statement was his personal opinion and did not reflect the stance of the whole production team". The article reports no further step.

How to Read a Dispute

1. Whose claim, and who answered? For each, name the claimant and the response (a denial, an apology, silence).
2. Is there an outcome? Two of the four above have none in the article.
3. Allegation or finding? A report of a blacklist is an allegation; a commission's warning is a decision; a claim of plagiarism is an accusation.
4. Which article's framing? The finger-pinching article uses strong labels, and the Internet censorship article is critical in tone. Notice where the writer, and not the source, supplies the label.
5. What was not read? An encyclopaedia summary is a start, not the file.

Exercises

Next chapter: Capstone: Reading Claims About Webtoons, which gathers the course's threads (format, platform, money, screen, world) and a checklist for any claim about a webtoon, a hit or the industry.