You can freely use profanity and obscene language on YouTube.

《Kim Ji-won’s KakaoTalk》
‘Today’s story that is open and harsh’. Reporter Kim Ji-won of Ten Asia harshly criticizes entertainment and broadcasting industry issues from a difficult perspective.

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YouTube allows relatively free expression of content. For this reason, broadcasting companies are also more actively trying out content that was not available on TV channels. Broadcasting companies that have tasted YouTube are now erasing their traces. This is because their names can become ‘self-limiting’. The freedom gained by clearing their names is leading to the creation of stronger and more sensational content.

YouTube channel Studio Waffle is a web entertainment channel launched by CJ ENM in March 2021 and is a digital content platform for tvN PDs. There are 1.43 million subscribers and the cumulative number of views exceeds 398 million. Among them, 'Mouth with Wheels', a web entertainment program that runs on a seasonal basis, is a type of talk show featuring Lee Yong-jin, Gabi, Sae-kyung, Jo Se-ho, and Kwak Tube.

In ‘Mouth on Wheels’, the performers’ mouth movements are ‘flashy’. I feel comfortable using profanity and obscene language. In Episode 11 of Season 3 of ‘A Mouth on Wheels’, ‘I want to stay up all night... Hwang JB Kwak at night!’, the performers said, ‘Drink hunting. We talked about the topic of ‘dating purpose VS one night stand purpose’. The performers immersed themselves in the topic of conversation while performing a situational comedy. Meanwhile, Satire said, "I have to do sex with you no matter what," and Kwak Tub said, "I've never seen a woman do sex first and sex last," and the contestants burst into laughter.

We also talked about how much we can talk to our friends about skinship, sleepovers, and expressions of affection with our partners. The contestants created a situation where the wife received a phone call while the husband was having a drink with friends. Jo Se-ho, who played the role of the husband's friend, pretended to make a phone call and said, "Hang up, Je-su." In response, the satire acted in a frightening manner, saying, “Where do you live? This won’t work.” The performers laughed and fell asleep. Swearing and sexual expressions are clearly visible in the audio, but they use tricks to erase them or display them in a mixture of Korean and English in the subtitles. This is to avoid yellow scabs, also known as ‘no-tak’. YouTube imposes revenue restrictions on videos containing profanity, violence, profanity, or advocacy of terrorism in order to prevent advertisements from running on such videos. If there is a 'no-tak', profit generation is blocked.

Studio Waffle's other content, 'Turkiyez on the Block', raised eyebrows for its caricature of Turkic people at the beginning of the broadcast. In this entertainment show, which was titled 'Turkiye on the Block' before the name of the country was revised, Lee Yong-jin imitated a Turkiye man selling Turkiye ice cream and interviewed guests. However, it was pointed out that the costume Lee Yong-jin wore was an Arab costume, not a Turkic costume. This is why the controversy over racial discrimination arose. At that time, Turkiye netizens also requested that their culture be respected. In addition, Lee Yong-jin's poor Korean speaking seemed like a caricature of foreigners.

The production team apologized for the controversy and changed Lee Yong-jin's costume. Season 1, titled ‘Turkiez on the Block’, ended last December. However, from the name ‘Season’, it can be predicted that Season 2 will continue.

JTBC's crossover studio, SLL (Studio Lulu Lala), is also presenting more bold content than the JTBC TV channel. SLL is the production company of ‘Wassup Man’, ‘Walkman’, and ‘Season B Season’. The newly introduced 'Health Gwae Teacher' is content in which urology doctor and YouTuber Gwae Chu-hyeong becomes a daily health teacher and visits schools to provide sex education. Among them, Episode 5 is ‘Hwan Kkwa Chu? Vienna pretzels? In a video titled 'The Real Last Name Concerns of College Students Even Kwok Chu-hyung was embarrassed', Kwok Chu-hyung was depicted meeting students at Soongsil University.

On this day, Kwok Chu-hyung talked with students on the topic of ‘anti-cohabitation’. After seeing the bed in the club room, Kwok Chu-hyung said to the students, "Why did you make the bed? I was just making it somewhere else and it got caught a lot." The time spent answering questions about sex with students in a free and comfortable atmosphere was progressive, but the sexual jokes sometimes reached a dangerous level.

SLL operates as an independent channel for successful content such as 'Wassup Man', 'Walkman', and 'Season Off Season'. A well-raised child was sent to a separate home. The advantage is that by removing the name of the production company from the content, the negative impact on each other's content can be minimized and the influence of each content can be increased. tvN's Studio Waffle is also a channel operated by CJ ENM.

tvN and JTBC gained freedom in content creation through YouTube. Broadcasting companies that have let go of their reins do not hesitate to include profanity and 19+ content. I guess I forgot about filtering and the dignity of a broadcaster in the thrill of YouTube revenue generation.

Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr