Exclusive: 'Namu Wiki' Community with at Least 240,000 Subscribers Becomes Hotbed for Sexual Exploitation Material Arcalive Posts Numerous Digital Sexual Crimes Using AI to Humiliate Acquaintances… Whistleblower Says "Management is Negligent in Preventing Crimes"… Avoiding Legal Scrutiny by Having an Overseas Address
this is an investigative article that’s originally in Korean, it’s machine translated and edited below. If you see any discrepancies lmk and I’ll fix it asap. Thanks everyone
. It has been confirmed that numerous channels are operating within the community "ArcaLive" of the participatory knowledge site "Namuwiki," with the purpose of sharing digital sex crime content. The number of subscribers alone is at least 240,000, making it the largest known group of digital sex crime perpetrators within a single community to date.
Users were promoting AI-generated photos and videos and conducting actual transactions via Telegram. Some posts included photos of women's underwear, belonging to mothers, wives, and other family members. Although ArcaLive stated that "pornographic material is strictly prohibited," a former Namuwiki representative exposed that "the current administrators are essentially allowing these crimes to persist."
This platform, although targeting Koreans, can only be accessed through overseas IPs, and the company is based in Paraguay, making it difficult for Korean law enforcement to intervene.
At least 240,000 subscribers to sex crime content… Largest in history
Whistleblower A, who was involved in the founding of Namuwiki, met with OhmyNews on the 3rd and said, "All five members involved in the early establishment of Namuwiki were 'incels' (involuntary celibates), and some of the people who applied to become community administrators were teenagers. Instead of regulating digital sex crimes, they have either condoned or neglected them." He added, "There were no sanctions against misogynistic or anti-human rights descriptions either."
He said, "At first, I enjoyed making key decisions necessary for Namuwiki's operation, but the current behavior of Namuwiki and ArcaLive has become unbearable. Their claim that 'pornographic content is prohibited' is essentially nonsense."
According to data obtained by OhmyNews, numerous digital sex crime materials were posted on ArcaLive through channels such as the "Erotic Pictures Channel" (82,620 members), the "Women's Body Channel" (60,881 members), the "AI Semi-Realistic Channel" (46,696 members), the "Global Traditional Massage Channel" (28,931 members), the "AI Realistic Channel" (22,012 members), the "Wife/Married Women Channel" (353 members), and the "Stockings Channel" (238 members). Combined, these channels had over 240,000 subscribers (including overlaps).
Recently, OhmyNews and a group formed by members of the Democratic Party, “doubleoplayer" and the X (formerly Twitter) account "Publicizing ArcaLive Sex Crimes" obtained and analyzed ArcaLive-related data from 2021 to 2024.
The analysis revealed that ArcaLive users frequently produced and distributed AI-generated sexual exploitation material and shared and sold illegal filming material. Sex crime content was sold with specific prices, and purchases were only possible through Telegram, making it difficult to trace. One post mentioned that the videos were hard to find on other "porn" sites, listing prices (2,000 won per video or 8,000 won for a bundle of five) and providing a specific Telegram ID for purchasing. Promotional comments like "I have lots of videos, contact me if interested" were posted frequently.
Users also uploaded pictures of women's underwear, with some explaining they belonged to their mothers or wives. Other users posted photos of underwear used by their sisters, girlfriends, or acquaintances. So-called "humiliation" crimes also occurred frequently, with users posting illegally taken photos of women, spouses, or young girls in public places, commenting on their appearance.
"ArcaLive administrators cannot be unaware of sex crime material" "Likely switched to VPN-based site to avoid regulatory sanctions"
Namuwiki was founded in 2015, and ArcaLive was founded in 2016. Both are owned by a company called "Umanle S.R.L." based in Paraguay.
ArcaLive and its sub-channels are operated in a private state, making them unsearchable, and some posts can only be accessed through overseas IPs. As a result, access from Korea requires the use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).
A said, "Initially, the site wasn’t VPN-based because requiring overseas IPs would make it inconvenient for users, potentially decreasing user numbers. However, it seems they transitioned to this model to avoid being blocked by the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC)."
The KCSC announced on August 22 that it had requested the deletion of 37 illegal and harmful posts on ArcaLive. The KCSC noted that it was "extremely unusual" for ArcaLive to comply with the deletion request, as the platform had never previously responded.
In response, ArcaLive claimed that "the mentioned posts did not exist in the database" and attributed it to bugs or errors. They also stated that "all pornographic material involving real adults or inspired by real children is strictly prohibited," and that they "immediately delete and close channels upon confirmation."
A countered the claim that the posts didn't exist, saying, "Technical manipulation is entirely possible. It's hard to trust their explanation, as it wasn’t verified by a credible third-party civilian group or investigative agency."
He emphasized, "ArcaLive and Namuwiki administrators cannot be unaware of the digital sex crimes happening within the community. While only encrypted information like passwords is invisible to server owners, all raw data is stored on the server."
When asked if the administrators might not have noticed due to the sheer volume of raw data, A responded, "Even if they can’t check every single post, server operators would still know which boards are being used the most and what types of posts are being uploaded." In fact, internal statistics from ArcaLive users in January showed that digital sex crime-related channels ranked among the most frequently used.
KCSC: "Plans to pursue cooperation with foreign operators"
A KCSC official told OhmyNews, "We have proposed a meeting with Namuwiki to explore ways to strengthen self-regulation and mutual cooperation. We received a reply requesting a detailed explanation of the purpose of the meeting." The official added that they would continue pursuing cooperation with both domestic and international businesses to block the distribution of illegal and harmful posts and protect users.
On August 5, OhmyNews contacted Namuwiki using the same official email address the KCSC communicated with, inquiring about A's allegations. However, they only received a reply stating, "We are only responsible for temporary measures. Any unrelated issues will not be answered."
from previous posts on this blog: If you remember, ArcaLive was the site KGCS specifically called out as the site where the pedophilic Blue Archive fans gathered in their statement about the Illustar Fest event . There was also info dropped by guiltyarchive here. at the time of that post happening these forums were being revealed because incels wanted to delete the entire Genshin subforum. why? Genshin Impact wasn’t responding to their shitfits or “protest balloon” but instead had deleted their comments and then immediately responded to female fan concerns, making it a confirmed “femi game” to them. the decision was blocked, so they instead tried to take the entire ArcaLive site down by revealing these illegal secret forums.that’s not the first time those forums were revealed but it’s just the backstory as to why they were revealed in that situation.this is a short post on namuwiki.