If a minor uses someone else’s identity to view adult posts, can the creator still be legally protected? – POSTYPE Help Center

🌐 This article has been translated from Korean for your convenience. If there is any discrepancy, the Korean version prevails.

Legal responsibility regarding adult content

If a creator distributes lawful adult content using POSTYPE’s identity verification system, the creator can still be legally protected even if a minor steals someone else’s identity, completes verification, and views the content.
A minor who has stolen and used another person’s identity to complete verification may be punished under relevant laws such as Article 37 of the Resident Registration Act and Articles 314 and 236 of the Criminal Act.
If someone sells, rents, transfers, or shares an account that has completed identity verification and can access adult content to a minor, they may be held even more strictly liable under laws including Article 16 of the Youth Protection Act and Article 42-2 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

POSTYPE provides a lawful identity verification system using Toss, mobile phone, i-PIN, and card verification so that creators can focus on their work with greater peace of mind.
We limit the number of accounts that can be verified per person and set an identity verification validity period, among other policies and technologies, to continuously reduce creators’ concerns.
Through the personal information theft check service, Korea Internet & Security Agency’s e-Privacy Clean Service, we process reported identity theft cases as quickly as possible.
We continuously monitor abnormal usage behavior, such as access from an excessively large number of devices or simultaneous logins from distant locations.
If fraudulent use is suspected, we may contact the user by text message or phone call to reconfirm their age and identity. Accounts deemed to be fraudulently used may be subject to measures such as forced password reset, cancellation of identity verification, or permanent suspension of service use.
If fraudulent behavior continues, we will respond firmly, including filing criminal complaints and pursuing civil damages, in accordance with Article 314 of the Criminal Act and Article 6(3) of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act.

On POSTYPE, the age requirement for accessing adult content is “20 years old in Korean age (recognized as an adult from January 1 of the year you turn 19 in international age).” However, for users who do not hold Korean nationality, the adult standard is “18 years old (international age).”
In Korea, different laws set different age thresholds—for example, 19 under the Civil Act and 18 under the Game Industry Promotion Act—and there is no single, clear standard across all laws. For online content services, the Korea Communications Standards Commission leaves the detailed standards to industry self-regulation.
Within the scope permitted by domestic and foreign laws, POSTYPE has set its adult standard based on Article 2(1) of the Youth Protection Act to protect both creators and underage readers.

Under foreign laws, non-Korean users can complete identity verification with a simple process in which they sign an agreement stating, “I am at least 18 years old, and if this is not true, I bear all responsibility.”
POSTYPE uses various technical measures to prevent minors from pretending to be non-Korean users to access adult content.
- If there is any record of access from within Korea using a given IP address, the user is classified as Korean.
- If the operating system language of the user’s device or browser is Korean, the user is classified as Korean.
- If the user registers with an email domain intended for domestic users, the user is classified as Korean.
- We also use various additional filters that cannot be disclosed due to technical and security reasons.
Once a user has been classified as Korean, they must continue to complete Korean identity verification even if they later change their account or language settings.
Koreans residing abroad and non-Koreans residing abroad who are classified as Korean, and therefore cannot complete identity verification via card or i-PIN, can go through ID verification instead.