Hasty Briefsbeta

Wave of (Open Street Map) Vandalism in South Korea

4 days ago
  • #Conspiracy Theories
  • #OpenStreetMap
  • #Vandalism
  • Vandals began defacing the map in South Korea about a week ago, leading to hundreds of changes rolled back and over 50 malicious accounts banned.
  • The issue started a month ago when South Korean media falsely claimed an account leaked military base locations on OpenStreetMap.
  • Another false report linked errors in NaverMap and KakaoMap to OpenStreetMap, fueling conspiracy theories among ultra-conservative groups.
  • These groups, under the hashtag #YoonAgain, believe OpenStreetMap is a tool of Chinese and Russian influence and have vandalized the platform.
  • The vandalism targeted power plants, not military bases, likely due to an overzealous employee or official.
  • The individuals involved refuse dialogue and persistently create accounts to delete data, which is easily restored.