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Namuwiki (Korean:나무위키;lit.tree wiki, Japanese: ナムウィキ) is a Korean-language wiki based in Paraguay. The website was launched on 17 April 2015 and is powered by the proprietary wiki software The Seed.
As of 5 October 2024, Namuwiki has a total of 6,679,813 normal articles (ilban munseo, 일반 문서), including redirects,[1] compared to 3,290,720 (including redirects) on the Korean Wikipedia, thus has 1.98 times more articles than the Korean Wikipedia.[2][circular reference] According to The Hankyoreh's October 30, 2024 (KST) article, Namuwiki has 2.2 times more articles and 7.2 times more traffic than the Korean Wikipedia.[3]Similarweb ranks Namuwiki as the fifth most visited website in South Korea.[4] According to The Korea Economic Daily, Namuwiki had a max daily user count of 2 million, and a max daily pageview count of 45 million in 2021, making it the seventh most visited website in Korea that year.[5]
History
In April 2015, Rigveda Wiki, suffered a massive community dispute when the site owner, Cheongdong, was discovered to have secretly changed the user agreement to privatize the wiki for his personal profit. Users vandalized articles in protest, forcing the closure of the servers.[6] In response, Namuwiki was created as a fork by a user named Namu on 17 April. The article count of Namuwiki surpassed that of Rigveda Wiki by 25 April, and surpassed Rigveda Wiki's original article count before its vandalism on 12 May.[citation needed] Namuwiki emerged as one of the biggest wikis forked from the Rigveda Wiki, and soon became its de facto replacement.[7]
In May 2016, Namu transferred Namuwiki's server management rights to a new owner, UmanLe S.R.L., a company based in Asunción, Paraguay.[8]
In August 2016, a Namuwiki user created an article about "equalism". The article falsely claimed that a supposed new ideology, "equalism", had appeared in the West, and made multiple remarks against feminist ideologies. As South Korea was seeing heated online debates about radical feminist website Megalia during this time,[9] the article quickly gained a lot of attraction and contributions. Although most of the assertions and references included in the article were false or fabricated, contents of it were widely spread over Korean society, resulting in false articles about the concept of equalism.[10] The false article existed for longer than six months, until a feminist wiki named Femiwiki brought forward specific and definite arguments on 24 January 2017. Soon, it was proved that most of the claims were false and the original idea of equalism was mostly a fabrication.[11]
In September 2018, the site began displaying advertisements on the top banner of its pages, ostensibly to help fund its server rental fees.[12]
On 9 January 2019, Korean politician Cho Hae-joo formally announced that he had deleted material written on his Namuwiki page, as it contained "false elements," which resulted in political backlash.[13]
In November 2023, the Democratic Party accused then president Yoon Suk Yeol of 'preparing for martial law' on the basis of 130 officers deleting their Namuwiki pages. In a press conference, Democratic Party MP Yang Mun-suk (양문석) said: "130 officers of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces have deleted or have taken the preemptive actions for the removal of their Namuwiki pages since last April. I have strong suspicions that these actions are not just flying rumors but preparations for emergencies such as martial law."[15]
During the 2024 South Korean legislative election, Jang Ye-Chan (장예찬), a former member of the People Power Party (PPP) supreme council (국민의힘 최고의원), was dropped from nomination by the PPP due to his controversies regarding rough speech which started from a part from his Namuwiki article.[15]
Scrutiny by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, 2024
On August 14, 2024, the Communications Review Subcommittee (통신심의소위원회), one of the smaller committees of the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), postponed a resolution regarding a previous incident where two civilians who had small followings on social media requested the deletion of their personal information, pictures with their ex-lovers, and other inappropriate content from Namuwiki, while issuing consultancy from one of their subsidiaries, special committee for telecommunication consultations (통신자문특별위원회). This was a change from their previous stance regarding Namuwiki articles, where they had stated that requests of similar matter regarding Namuwiki were not applicable (견해없음). According to a MBN's article, members newly decided that the former standards were "Not in line with the trend of the times... It would be reasonable to accept the request for the deletion of information on sites such as Namuwiki if the person themselves requested it", and held the decision on hold.[16]
On October 15, PPP legislator Kim Jang-Kyum (김장겸) said that "Namuwiki is becoming a distributing channel for illegal content such as deepfake porn, and fake news. It is in the structure of a 'voluntary encyclopedia by the collective intellect', but is subject to malicious edits, stigmatization, and false accusations", and that "The government should come up with powerful solutions to deal with Namuwiki's dangerous and illegal elements."[17]
On October 16, the KCSC delivered a resolution of the 'blocking' (접속차단) of personal information of influencers on Namuwiki. The Special Committee for Telecommunication Consultations (통신자문특별위원회), accepting the pleas from two influencers, one saying that photos of the individual with his/her previous lover alongside photos of physical affection, or "스킨쉽", have been on Namuwiki for a long time, and the other saying that Namuwiki had the individual's "life contents from 2013 to 2023 in its articles, alongside the individual's photos, real name, birthplace/time, nationality, body measures, education, prizes and awards, and even family information", resolved that rectification was needed. The Special Committee for Telecommunication Consultations further stated that this was a "decision made in consideration of the rapid spread of Internet media and its increasing influence day by day", and that they were "applying the relevant regulations more strictly than before, reflecting the recent reality that can cause enormous damage to individuals by spreading unwanted portraits or privacy information."[18][19]
To the above, on the same day (October 16), Umanle S.R.L., the mother company of Namuwiki, said that "In order to prevent infringement of rights caused by Namuwiki documents, we have internally established a system and faithfully responded to the demands of rights holders", and that "We express great concern and regret over the decision to block access and the (blockage) announcement of the media."[20] Later, Namuwiki officially verified that they had made the statement through Media Today on their question board (문의 계시판).[21] Umanle S.R.L. further stated on another request on Namuwiki's question board that they did not know which articles the KCSC was taking action against and that it was only guessing which ones they were by the press and previous letters sent by the pleading individuals, and that it was more confusing to specify which part (of the article) the problem was due to the pleading individual's website still displaying the same information the individual was claiming as "an invasion of privacy."[22]
On October 21, 2024, during a national audit regarding the Science, ICT, Future Planning, Broadcasting and Communications Committee[ko], a standing committee of the National Assembly, Kim Jang-kyom further stated that the website was "being used as a tool for all kinds of illegal activities such as digital sex crimes, copyright infringement, personal information infringement, etc."[23][24] PPP legislator Choi Hyung-du (최형두) said "If you search (about something), Namuwiki comes out first. It is said to be a citizen participation type (시민참여형), but if (the operating body) is unidentifiable and unable to be rectified, I wonder if it isn't necessary to exercise (Korea's) sovereignty like (in the examples of) France or other South-American countries and control it clearly or to block it outright." Ryu Hee-lim (류희림), the current chairman of the Korea Communications Standards Commission, said "We have recently changed our reviewing standards and are now strongly requesting for deletion in the case of any privacy, portrait violation cases.", "if our rectification requests are not met in the future, we are considering a temporary complete-blockage."[24]
According to the KCSC on October 23, when one of the influencers mentioned above requested the deletion of a Namuwiki article with a photo of the individual with his/her ex, the publisher (계시자) removed it voluntarily. According to Yonhap (same article) the other (between the two aforementioned above) influencer's family information was also taken down by Namuwiki.[25]
In an Hankyoreh article, it is said that on October 29, a KCSC figure said "if (Namuwiki) keeps idly ignoring our corrections, we can further resolute a 'Recommendation for Strengthening Self-Regulation' (자율규제 강화 권고) and a 'Warning' (경고), and if Namuwiki continues to not improve after our 'Warning', we can undergo a 'temporary complete-blockage' (일시적 전체 차단). We are currently trying to increase the effectiveness of our correction demands by increasing co-operation with Namuwiki, and will continue to respond appropriately as the situation develops.[26]
On October 30th, aforementioned legislator Kim Jang-kyom (김장겸), belonging to the PPP and also a member of the PPP's Special Media Committee (미디어특별위원회), posted on Facebook stating that "(Namuwiki's) real owners and administrators are not identifiable and are not subject to Korean law, and that he is planning to sue them in Paraguay's court if any legal troubles should occur." The post connected it to ties with the left leaning media and further criticized Namuwiki, claiming that there are further problems such as Namuwiki distributing illegal deep-fake content, the owning and operation of Korean website Arcalive (by Namuwiki's owners and operators Umanle S.R.L., located in Paraguay) and that Umanle S.R.L.'s profits were estimated to be over USD 10 million (100억원) per year. In the same post, he further added that
...they often bring up freedom of speech, but the collective intelligence of users often deteriorates into collective manipulation, which is possible in Namuwiki's structure. Fake news, defamation, the inappropriate publications of private information is something that cannot be protected under the name of freedom of speech...[27][28]
On November 1st, 2024, the PPP's Special Media Committee (미디어특별위원회), stated that
Namuwiki's reality is shocking. Its headquarters are in Paraguay, South America. It only (mostly) services in Korea yet does not obey the rectification demands from the KCSC, and it draws in an annual profit of ₩10 billion (USD 10 million). As Namuwiki's profits overwhelmingly come from Korea, it should comply with its obligations as a good business operator. If it refuses, (Korea) should exercise its sovereignty like other countries such as France and consider strong measures such as blocking Namuwiki's access in Korea.[23]
The post also quoted MBC's 3rd labor union (MBC 제3노조), saying that 'As MBC's third labor union (non-KCTU-affiliated labor union) pointed out in a statement yesterday (10.31), left-leaning media are advocating Namuwiki as an "online encyclopedia jointly compiled by users" in terms of freedom of expression, but this is an abuse of freedom of expression.MBC's third labor union pointed out, "There are frequent acts of indiscriminately publishing other people's personal information as well as fake news, and the problem is serious because it is a structure that does not allow filing complaints or protesting.'[28][29][clarification needed]
Coincidentally, that afternoon (November 1st), Namuwiki was temporarily unusable, with pages displaying this error message: "잠시 서버 작업이 진행되고 있거나, 일시적인 오류일 수 있습니다. 아래의 새로 고침 버튼을 눌러보세요" (The server might be undergoing management, or could be a temporary error. Try pressing the refresh button below). This succession of events led to the arousing suspicions of users regarding the reason why Namuwiki was unusable, with Kim Jang-Kyum's Namuwiki article itself later trending on November 1st.[30] The temporary issue was fixed a few hours later.
On November 3rd, PPP legislator Kim Jang-Kyum (김장겸) launched the process for a law Korean news outlets dubbed the "Namuwiki transparency law" (나무위키 투명화법).[31][32] The new law legislator Kim is pushing for is a revised bill for the Act on promotion of information and communications network utilization and information protection (정보통신망 이용촉진 및 정보보호 등에 관한 법률).[33] According to Kim, the revisal's key elements are the reinforcing of Namuwiki's proxy body in Korea, and the introduction of a confiscation system for profits based on the distribution of illegal information. Furthermore, Kim says that they are pushing for a system where the domestic proxy requirements are expanded from current user count and revenue to encompassing other elements such as visits and traffic, with an addition of similar expansions for minor protection.[34]
Content
Articles
Like its predecessor Rigveda Wiki, Namuwiki's articles are lightly worded and humorous, often containing jokes or references to subculture knowledge from various areas, including movies, games, and online memes. It has a unique form of narrative through the use of strikethroughs, which are primarily applied to sentences that are written as part of a tongue-in-cheek joke. Bolding is used liberally, often to highlight an important phrase. Although the primary focus of articles is placed on popular subcultures (the original targeted material of Rigveda Wiki) like video games, anime, and movies, there are also many articles written on the fields of science, history, scholarship, and current events. However, less emphasis is placed on creating verifiable information; Namuwiki acknowledges on its behalf that its comparatively lax editing policies can cause material to be incorrect, biased, or defamatory, especially given its smaller number of contributors. As a result, the articles on Namuwiki are considered to be less scholarly than the likes of the Korean Wikipedia. The tone of Namuwiki is also much lighter, as it allows jokes and puns.[citation needed]
Content of Namuwiki is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Korea (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license). Namuwiki has explained that their license is incompatible with Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Fandom wiki (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported) on the FAQ page.[35]
Accuracy and neutrality
Namuwiki does not necessarily require sources, nor does it have strict restrictions on contributions containing inaccurate information or subjective perspectives; it is only "recommended" to leave citations in cases of direct quotes.[36] Due to no requirements for fact-checking, Namuwiki has been criticized for lack of accuracy and reliability.[citation needed] The phrase "turn off Namuwiki" (나무위키 꺼라) has become a running joke in many Korean Internet communities, targeting its users who act knowledgeable about certain topics without doing in-depth and credible research outside of Namuwiki.[37] The material found on it is written in a personal/subjective style that was characteristic of the wiki from which it was forked, the Rigveda Wiki. It has much more lax guidelines than Wikipedia, does not necessarily require references or sources, and has been criticized as being inaccurate and biased.[38]
Administration
Umanle S.R.L.'s base of operation in Asunción, Paraguay has led to concerns over the legal venues available for Korean citizens to seek correction of information they consider harmful, given the bureaucratic difficulties in handling legal matters with a foreign entity under foreign law.[39] Various hypotheses have arisen to speculate the motivation behind the wiki's transfer, the most prominent of which characterizes the move as an attempt to avoid sensitive South Korean internet laws.
Not much information has been revealed about Umanle S.R.L., its employees, or its owner(s). Data from Paraguay's Ministry of Finance confirms its existence.[40] Some users raised concerns that Namuwiki may be operating under a ghost company.[39]
Kim Nak-Ho (김낙호), a professor of journalism, opined that relying on opaque administration may be problematic for online communities. He further added that collaborative encyclopedia projects should be owned by a formal non-profit with transparent funding.[39]
Reception and influence, comparison to other Korean wiki services.
Namuwiki, according to SimilarWeb, is the 5th most visited website on the South Korean internet as of October 5, 2024, behind only the likes of Google, Naver, YouTube, and Daum. In addition, it is the wiki website most widely used by the Korean population. (Wikipedia.org is 33rd, compared to Namuwiki's 5th place.)[41] It was the second most searched entity in 2015 Korea, according to Google Korea.[42] Even though it has been criticized for lack of citations, inaccuracy, and bias, it is easy to read and editing policies have established its status as the go-to wiki website among the Korean population, which has boosted the website's status and influence into a staple of everyday Koreans' lives and pop culture.[43] As of 5 October 2024, Namuwiki has a total of 6,525,085 normal articles, or ilban munseo (일반 문서), including redirects,[1] compared to 3,290,720 (including redirects) on the Korean Wikipedia, making it a wiki with almost double (1.98 times) articles compared to the Korean Wikipedia.[2] According to The Hankyoreh's October 30, 2024 (KST) article of Namuwiki, it has 7.2 times more traffic compared to the Korean Wikipedia.[3]
In entertainment and politics, Namuwiki makes sporadic appearances in the scene, where sometimes you can see Korean public figures, entertainers, and politicians reading Namuwiki's criticism section of their own articles, which is like a politician spinoff of "reading mean comments".[44] According to the E-daily, public figures reading, reviewing, and editing their own NamuWiki articles have been an increasing trend on Korean YouTube.[44] Examples.[45][46] In 2019, some NamuWiki users showed concern on Namuwiki's questions board (문의 게시판) over the fact that articles collectively edited by the viewers of the videos above might count as Outside interference and as a violation of NamuWiki's rules, but the act was given the greenlight by one of NamuWiki's administrators, stating that unless vandalism happens they should be treated as simple edits.[47] NamuWiki has also come under pressure from various politicians and political organizations for many reasons, and various efforts were either made or theorized against NamuWiki. Critics of these acts argue that the blocking or taking-down of NamuWiki would be unnecessary censorship and the hindrance of freedom of speech.[48]
Due to NamuWiki's growing influence, more politicians are increasingly paying attention to their NamuWiki pages; According to the JoongAng's call with the aids of the PPP's first-term MP's office, (초선실), it is said that the PPP has separate designated assistants just for Namuwiki management.[23]
In March 2017, an article published by the Korean news outlet MK News detailed Namuwiki and the "humorous" writing style of its articles.[49] The article attributed Namuwiki's growth to its accessibility and humor. However, this and its ease of editing also leads to articles with biased and unfounded opinions. In November 2018, Namuwiki was mentioned by Korean news outlet representative Junghwan Lee as a positive example for news outlets to follow in the context of fake news, explaining that information contributed online from repeated discussion, deletion, and adjustments ultimately creates truthful information.[50]
Media institutions, even legacy media with high awareness to the Korean public, can sometimes be seen uploading images from Namuwiki, in their own articles. Examples.[51][52]
↑ "나무위키:FAQ". namu.wiki. Retrieved 25 February 2025. 라이선스 호환성 문제로 위키백과에 작성된 내용을 여기로 인용하는 것 및 그 반대 역시 허용되지 않습니다. FANDOM(위키아)의 내용을 인용하는 것 역시 본 위키가 사용하고 있는 라이선스와는 호환되지 않는 라이선스를 사용하는 관계로 서로 다른 두 위키의 라이선스에 저촉될 수 있습니다.
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