kakaotalk

In the first half of 2026, approximately 135,000 accounts were subject to restrictions across Posts and Comments, an increase of approximately 64.5% from the previous six-month period. This increase should be considered in context: reporting and enforcement for Short-form Posts and Comments were introduced in September 2025, making this the first full six-month reporting period for that area.

Talk Profile and related posts/comments

Approximately 65,000 accounts were subject to restrictions in Talk Profile and related posts and comments, an increase of approximately 23.1% from the previous period.

“Fraud and Impersonation” accounted for the largest share at 67.3%, followed by “Abusive Language, Hate Speech, Violence, and Hateful Content” at 16.0%, “Obscenity and Sexual Content” at 6.1%, “Investment Advisory and Other Policy Violations” at 5.1%, “Illegal Goods and Services” at 4.9%, and other categories at 0.6%.

Compared with the previous period, account restrictions increased by approximately 188.5% for “Investment Advisory and Other Policy Violations,” 30.1% for “Abusive Language, Hate Speech, Violence, and Hateful Content,” 21.3% for “Fraud and Impersonation,” and 14.7% for “Obscenity and Sexual Content.” Restrictions for “Illegal Goods and Services” decreased by approximately 19.0%.

Following the KakaoTalk profile UX update in September 2025, reporting options for posts and comments became available, and enforcement based on user reports continued into the first half of 2026. New profile features also expanded the range of content users could report. These changes are believed to have contributed to the increase in related reports and enforcement actions.

“Fraud and Impersonation” remained the largest enforcement category in Talk Profile and related posts and comments. Common examples included approaches posing as official customer support or prize notifications, as well as profiles using job titles or organization names to impersonate others. We also observed repeated creation of identical or similarly formatted profiles. Profiles associated with domestic side-job and secondhand marketplace scams continued to appear alongside those linked to overseas romance scams.

Enforcement actions for Profanity, Hate Speech, Violence, and Hatred in posts and comments increased by 30.1% compared to the previous half. Major patterns included aggressive posts targeting specific individuals, comments containing personal attacks, and expressions arising from political or group conflicts. Kakao receives user reports through the in-app reporting feature for posts and comments and takes action on content confirmed to violate the Operation Policy.

“Obscenity and Sexual Content” increased by 14.7%. Common examples included nicknames and posts containing sexual language, as well as sexual remarks in comments. Some cases were identified through user reports.

Enforcement actions for Investment Advising and Related Policy Violations increased by 188.5% compared to the previous half. Profiles claiming affiliation with investment advisory chatrooms or investment groups and using professional titles were repeatedly observed. This pattern highlighted the need to promptly detect such policy-violating profiles and prevent their recurrence.

“Illegal Goods and Services” decreased by 19.0%. Observed examples included profiles promoting the cashing of entertainment-related gift certificates, private lending and loan services, or gambling websites. The decline appears to reflect continued enforcement following the strengthening of policies on illegal lending and debt collection in June 2025.

Short-form Posts and Comments

Approximately 70,000 accounts were subject to restrictions in Short-form Posts and Comments in the first half of 2026.

“Abusive Language, Hate Speech, Violence, and Hateful Content” accounted for the largest share at 84.9%, followed by “Obscenity and Sexual Content” at 13.9%, “Other Content Unsuitable for Minors” at 0.8%, “Illegal Spam and Service Disruption” at 0.2%, and other categories at 0.2%.

Reporting and enforcement for Short-form Posts and Comments were introduced in September 2025, and this report covers the first full six-month period since the system became established. The substantial increase in account restrictions compared with the approximately three months of data available for the second half of 2025 should therefore be interpreted in light of the longer reporting period. Increased creator activity, content publishing, and user engagement following the open call for official KakaoTalk Short-form creators in January 2026 also appear to have contributed.

The proactive enforcement rate reached 94.94%, an increase of 0.75 percentage points from the previous period. Among content acted on following user reports, 92.24% was addressed within one hour, an improvement of 4.70 percentage points.

Profanity, Hate Speech, Violence, and Hatred accounted for the largest share of violations in the Short-form area, with most occurring in comments. Common profanity and vulgar language, derogatory expressions targeting specific groups or individuals, and threatening language were repeatedly observed. Attempts to bypass filters using special characters, separated Korean consonants and vowels, or substitutions with similar-sounding characters also continued to be identified.

“Obscenity and Sexual Content” primarily involved comments containing sexually suggestive language or sexual profanity. Some comments also explicitly referred to sexual acts or solicited inappropriate encounters.

Other Content Inappropriate for Youth was primarily identified in Short-form posts. Enforcement actions were taken on content depicting scenes unsuitable for minors, such as drinking or smoking, or content that could encourage imitation of dangerous behavior.

“Illegal Spam and Service Disruption” primarily involved promotional and repetitive comments. Account restrictions in this category decreased by 18.8%.

In the first half of 2026, account restrictions increased across both Talk Profile and Short-form as the reporting and enforcement systems introduced in the previous period became established. User reports continued to support enforcement in Talk Profile, while proactive enforcement through automated review became more established in Short-form, improving both the proactive enforcement rate and response times. Kakao will continue to strengthen its ability to detect profiles suspected of being repeatedly created or generated in bulk, as well as expressions designed to evade filters, and refine its detailed enforcement guidelines as forms of abuse evolve.