Naver to show news commenters’ full user names, comment histories

South Korean internet giant Naver said Wednesday that the company will display the user names and comment histories of users who post replies on news stories on its platform. The new online comment system will be in place Thursday.

The change is intended to prevent abusive behavior online, the company explained.

Naver’s anonymous comment system has often been criticized for allowing abusive and disparaging comments. Commenters’ user names are partially hidden, with only the first four digits visible. Until now, users could also decide whether to show or hide their comment histories.

The new system will allow all users to access commenters’ user profile pages. Profile pages will show user names in full, along with comment histories and profile pictures.

Naver will also impose a seven-day waiting period for comments from new users. This is to prevent people from creating multiple accounts just to post abusive comments.

Users whose accounts have undergone real-name verification can write comments immediately, however.

Naver said it will eventually begin using artificial intelligence to filter out abusive comments and malicious users.

In February, Naver stopped publishing comments on its entertainment stories to protect celebrities from hateful comments.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)