Ramsey Khalid Ismael — better known as Johnny Somali, the infamous American streamer arrested in Japan, Israel, and South Korea for his provocative behavior — has been imprisoned in South Korea.

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[–] 140 points 6 months ago (8 children)

"I know for a fact that I'm not going to go to jail. Not one day in jail. I'm going to laugh my ass off when all these motherf***ers are saying I'm going for 30 years, 20 years, five years, 10 years. I'm not even going to do one day, bro. They'll give me a fine and say, 'Don't come back to Korea.' You're the one that's going to look so dumb when I don't get any jailtime or anything. Bro, I'm going to laugh like a f**king villain.

amazing.

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  • [–] 32 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    He got 6 months, so he wasn't too far off, unfortunately.

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  • [–] 27 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    at the end of the day, his only crime is being annoying. He didn't kill someone, didn't steal anything, etc. So 6months seems fair.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    And it's six months of hard labor without access to a smartphone. He'll either lose his mind or actually reconsider his life choices.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago* (3 children)

    Plus he had to register as a sex offender in Korea, and thus has to register in America on his return or face 10y, so who's got money on him failing to register?

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Under the Trump administration I don't think he will have any problems with not registering.

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  • [–] 94 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Mf was so annoying they sent him to the gulag

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  • [–] 25 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    If they do a prisoner exchange with North Korea anytime in the near future, they should send this guy to them. Just because. Maybe it will teach the arrogant US citizens to behave better in other countries.

    Note, I'm not saying that about the US citizens that are considerate human beings.

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  • [–] 88 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Apparently he kissed a statue of a woman that was built as a memorial to all the south Korean women that were raped by the Japanese during their colonial rule. In case anyone was wondering what he did to end up in jail.

    I'm willing to bet he knew exactly what that statue was a memorial for.

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  • [–] 83 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    This guy is like a reverse hostage. Countries will threaten to release him if they don't get what they want.

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  • [–] 155 points 6 months ago (33 children)

    Good, these are the types of guys that go "It's just a prank bro" or "It's a social experiment" except it isn't. It's just you being an inconsiderate jerk.

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  • [–] 60 points 6 months ago (10 children)

    yeah, the kind that sets you on fire, shoots your wife and sells your children to Epstein, then goes "it's just a prank bro".

    There's tons of light-hearted, harmless pranks out there. A good laugh where everyone goes away a little bit happier.

    This guy and his ilk on the other hand intentionally antagonise people to the point where they feel the need to defend themselves. Just because someone is out and about in public doesn't mean they're a free target for you to be shitty with them. Everyone has - or at least should have - the right to be unbothered in public by leeches like him.

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  • [–] 28 points 6 months ago (8 children)

    People should also have the right to fight back with extreme prejudice if these morons lay hands on them first.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    100% - but I meant the self defense part when they haven't actually touched you, just gotten to the point where their actions can constitute harassment.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (6 children)

    The defence would be that they felt their lives were being threatened by the persistent harrassment.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    And given there was no physicality, that court case could go either way...

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    The point I'm trying to make is that people should be free of prosecution if they are being aggressively harassed, both physical and verbal. It used to be, you ran your mouth, you would get a punch in the face to knock some sense back into you. Immediate consequences for stupidity.

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    People who say "violence is never the answer" probably never got bullied or harassed themselves.

    They'll moralize about "just tell on them!" But that doesn't do anything, and the harassment only gets worse after that.

    Throughout my life, I've consistently gotten in more trouble for sticking up for myself than I've ever seen my bullies or harassers get in. It's like the system wants us all to be pushovers and peons, not deserving even the ground beneath our feet. Or maybe I've just been tagged from birth as a "peasant" and therefore never been allowed to have a spine.

    But honestly, you can see how much damage this is doing to society. "Violence is never the answer" means we have to tolerate intolerance. It gives free license to bigotry, and forces us to appease.

    Violence was certainly the answer back in WWII. Nobody was gonna stop the Nazis simply by asking nicely.

    But for decades now, people haven't even been allowed to fight their bullies. And it shows...

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Anyone who was ever bullied, and then fought back, knows this.

    Don't be pushovers, kids.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    The worst is once you're an adult and then they start acting like standing up for yourself is something only kids do.

    Then they call you childish and immature for having the audacity to defend yourself when you're bullied, threatened, or harassed...

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    There are a lot of enablers, the viewers that find all that bullshit funny. Guilty by association, I suppose

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    I think the viewers of streams like his should get a swift kick in the nuts or vag and maybe kept from reproducing because nobody consuming his content is a good person.

    Like, you're right the streamers getting money by acting like assholes are only making money because of the audience. Said audience members are just as shitty as people.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    like, fuck people who watch these absolute shitheads, but I don't really buy that. people look at car crashes. i don't think reckless drivers are "enabled".

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    I don't think a car crash is an apt comparison in this case, that is usually an accident and not something easy to ignore and pretend it didn't happen - it affects everyone who wants to use the road where the crash happened. Nobody is clapping and cheering.

    What this asshole does isn't an accident, it's intentional. People follow him expecting bullshit and praising him for that. He's akin to people who like to drive recklessly and post and brag about it online.

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  • [+] -6 points 6 months ago (16 children)

    Yeah, still doesn't deserve slavery for it

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (14 children)

    I interpret this as a nastier form of community service. He didn't get the three year sentence, he got six months. He also partly brought this upon himself, as per the article when he was bragging online about how he wouldn't serve a day in jail. They decided to make an example of him. Also, any South Koreans that I have met are unfailingly nice people, but in their core, they are a hard and pragmatic people.

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  • [+] -7 points 6 months ago* (13 children)

    You're defending slavery here. It's the same problem with the US system.

    I'm not saying prison time isn't warranted, just that slavery is not an appropriate form of punishment or rehabilitation.

    That's the tricky part about having morals is they extend to people I don't like like this guy.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (12 children)

    I'm not defending slavery at all. I'm just attempting to explain why it is. Attempting moral relativism, because South Korea has a unique history and people which led to the way they interpret their punishment system.

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  • [+] -7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (11 children)

    You must understand the American South had a unique history and people which led to the way they....

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (10 children)

    My wife and stepdaughter are from Africa, I understand the racism. Have you ever considered that I was mocking extreme moral relativism? My question is, why are you passing judgement on the South Koreans?

    For the record, I think that the Scandinavian model of rehabilitation is the best way to work with most prisoners.

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  • [–] -5 points 6 months ago* (9 children)

    I pass judgments on all governments when it comes to violating human dignity.

    You try to make this a race thing is fucking weird. I'm judging a government's actions not the entire population of South Korea.

    And when it comes to human rights I take an absolutionist stance on morality. Slavery is never okay

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (2 children)

    Incidentally, what did you do to stop Donald Trump?

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 child)

    Voted against him, protested, made my plans, and got out of the US.

    I'm fundamentally opposed to everything that criminal is doing. Unfortunately my power to change his regime is limited.

    Doesn't have much to do about slavery as a punishment for a crime.

    Nows the part where you get upset because I haven't personally started an armed rebellion right?

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    No, I wanted to see if you practiced what you preached. You do, therefore you're an active part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, which was the people who voted for him, or worse, didn't vote at all.

    I hope that more of the people as a whole in the US will participate in the May 1st general strike, and make it a sustained effort.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago* (5 children)

    The way a people's government is shaped and interpreted is a direct result of the collective experience of that culture, therefore what I am saying is relevant. Did you read the last sentence of my previous comment? That's what I really think.

    Edit to add that I agree that slavery is wrong. My original statement was about how things came to be, not to pass any particular judgement on it.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    The way a people's government is shaped and interpreted is a direct result of the collective experience of that culture

    I mean 70 years ago the entire Korean peninsula was directly shaped by like 6 foreign powers into what it is today.

    Still don't see how that green lights slavery or how any of this is relevant to the issue I'm discussing.

    I fully understand how different cultures form and operate. I even have a degree to back it up, but I'm not going to have an anthropological or sociological debate on slavery. Slavery is never fit to be a punishment for a crime. That is what I am talking about. Why do you keep trying to drag it from that topic?

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago (2 children)

    Community service is technically slavery as well.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Which is why I am against that too.

    I would be okay if it is offered as a choice. Either you go sit in jail for the same number of hours or you go do community service. Equitable and not forced labor.

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  • [–] 0 points 6 months ago

    labor camp is the most desired prison assignment in the US. he's getting the version guys spend years doing good behavior and extra service to qualify for in the US. I'm not saying it's good, great, or moral, but at least its not US prison because we run the worst prisons in the world.

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  • [–] 61 points 6 months ago* (4 children)

    Now that he's convicted, an interesting question might be "is there enough evidence to convict him in other countries who have extradition treaties with South Korea?"...

    I have limited sympathy for people who make their living by bothering people.

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  • [–] 58 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    Norwegian philosopher Arne Ness said it best:

    "There is no freedom without responsibility - in fact, the two are intrinsically the same."

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  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    Swedish philosopher Ane Nuss once said, “pffft”.

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  • [–] 57 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    This made my day. He thought he was untouchable and now is in a forced labor camp for 6 months.

    Dude is just one of the worst humans.

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  • [+] 26 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)
  • [–] 25 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    I'll be glad when everyone forgets about this guy in two days and I don't have to see his dumb face in my feed anymore.

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  • [–] 24 points 6 months ago

    Finally some good news in 2026

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  • [–] 24 points 6 months ago*

    Used to frequent a streaming site for telestreaming robots. I remember the owner getting excited when Ice Poseidon contacted them because of his popularity, thinking it would help traffic. Community warned her it was playing with napalm. She invited him anyway. It only attracted a shitload of griefers, incels and filth that never fully went away after he quickly became bored and left. Site was never the same.

    This piece of shit was somehow even more annoying so you love to see it.

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  • [–] 20 points 6 months ago

    ahahahahaha

    fafo

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  • [–] 19 points 6 months ago

    Sounds like he deserved it

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  • [–] 16 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    I know this would be cruel and unusual but live stream him the entire time and donate proceeds to relevant charities.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago

    FAFO 4 U LOL

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago

    A South Korean prison labor camp seems a fitting destination for all influencers and YouTube trolls.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago

    Video 1 - "I twerked at kim family's big statue and gave them the finger lol"
    Video 2 - "Forced labor camp shenanigans lol"
    Video 3, visibly malnourished and beaten - "About to face the death squad, but i'm gangsta lol"

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Only 6 months tho we think

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  • [–] 25 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    The great tragedy is that S Korea commuted his 3 year potential sentence to just 6 months.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago* (4 children)

    Appeal is still possible and likely. But yea I agree, it's a crazy low sentence

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    For a nonviolent crime?

    Punitive justice isn't justice. In the case a short sentence is appropriate. He's punished for 6 months and then barred from the country. How would the cost of 3 years of imprisonment benefit South Korean citizens? Seems like an unnecessary cost.

    My opinion would change if it was a violent crime.

    And don't misinterpret me. I don't like the guy at all, I just dislike governments and unnecessarily long prison sentences more

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    I would generally agree with you. Unfortunately this is the system we have and I will admit, there is a personal pleasure in seeing consequences for this shit. In general I am also for prison abolition and restorative justice. I'm not as principled on this as I would like, I guess. That's definitely a point for me to keep working on. I do however wonder what would make someone like this... rehabilitate.

    Having said that, I will say the sharing of sexual deepfakes is definitely violent in an already extremely misogynist world where violence against women is often based on ideas of ownership of women's bodies and violence. There is a specific sort of violence to it that I can not fully comprehend as a masc person, but that is definitely violent in nature. Not just violating, but explicitly violent. This act only further contributes to the underlying violence of misogyny, I think is what I'm getting at.

    Thanks btw for your response, I think you make a good point.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Oh wait a minute I only heard about the statue bit, the deepfakes does change my mind a bit. It's certainly not victimless in that case. I'm still not comfortable with 3 years, but more than 6 months seems more appropriate in thay case

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago

    Dude's like all you hate about social media craze and tourist's exceptionalism in one person. Find out part may seem sweet at last, but he is a mere symptom waiting for reproduction unless there are enough barriers in place he won't be able to fall through. Barriers in not taking him behind the bars alone or at all, but educating, demotivating, ostracizing and deplatforming.

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  • [–] 14 points 6 months ago

    Good, idiots like this deserve to face the consequences of their actions

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  • [–] 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    South Koreans aren't the Japanese... they're not known for playing around.

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