Internet chat groups can be a source of insight and support, but these mom cafes have been accused of using their clout in harmful ways – sparking online abuse that has affected businesses and driven a woman to suicide
It all started when a four-year-old boy went home from day care and told his family he was upset.
He had been pushed over by a member of staff while on a field trip to a water park, he said. All he had wanted to do was get the woman’s attention.
In the post titled “A deeply shocking scene from the local swimming pool”, the relative accused the day care worker of child abuse and violently shoving the boy – despite not witnessing the incident.
Comments flooded in and the post was circulating across other mom cafes. Before long, users had identified the employee and began sending her angry and threatening messages.
Two days later, the woman – whose identity has not been released – took her own life.
The case drew more public attention to online groups that have been the subject of a complicated debate in recent months, as their members have been accused of using their clout in harmful or dishonest ways.
While being a space where mothers can seek insight and support, the groups also confer a sense of strength in numbers and members have mobilised in the past against businesses or educational institutes they accuse of unsafe or unclean practices. In an infamous case, three members of a mom cafe reportedly posted unfounded criticism of a food outlet in Seoul after the owner refused to give them free food.
In another case, a driver who worked for a taekwondo institute in the capital was accused of operating a bus unsafely when driving children home after a lesson. The online criticism led to the institute’s closure.
