this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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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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[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Consequently, he's been banned from pretty much all streaming platforms, including Twitch, Kick, Rumble, and Parti.

I've heard of one of these.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Rumble is where racists and other assholes tend to go when youtube kicks them out.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Sounds charming

[–] tacoplease@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

A face that needs to hit a baseball bat over and over again.

[–] jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

I guess others already have.

[–] BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Won't work. He has to have long term memory of a pigeon.

[–] Railcar8095@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Depending on the goal, I think it can be very effective.

[–] mr_anny@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 day ago

Every single one of these who commence public nuisance or harrassing behavior for publicity should be jailed in any part of the world only to show everyone their actions are shit.

[–] WanderWisley@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I sadly guarantee you that the second he is released he will continue to be a POS.

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 day ago (2 children)

But now convicted. Harder to get immigration approval anywhere. Unless he lies, which could lead to longer prison sentences.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I'm all for this outcome, actually.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Exactly.

One he finishes his sentence, he will be deported to the country of his citizenship, and his criminal record will prevent him from further travel to most places.

[–] FinishingDutch@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Fucking finally. That guy is an utter turd.

[–] baeb66@lemmy.today 144 points 2 days ago (4 children)

I didn't know that this guy kissed the Statue of Peace aka the Comfort Woman Statue in Korea for clicks. That's pretty foul. That statue is dedicated to all of the women who were used as sex slaves by the Japanese in WW2. They have one in the DMZ. The tour guide told us how it depicts women who fought their whole lives for justice for what was done to them. It's a striking piece of art.

Enjoy prison, you clown.

[–] Killer57@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The video I was unfortunate enough to see showed him preforming a lap dance on the statue, utterly disgusting human being that man is.

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago

You don't really want to look up everything horrible he did. He belongs behind bars, at least for a while, if only so he can't earn money doing horrible things.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago

And to compound what happened to them, they were shunned by society at the end of the war as if they were spoiled goods. It took 50 years or so for the public to understand the depth of what happened to them and to begin showing compassion. The statues exist in part to commemorate what happened to the women, and in part as a sign of remorse for how they were treated by their own communities afterwards.

[–] PhoenixDog@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They have one in the DMZ. The tour guide told us how it depicts women who fought their whole lives for justice for what was done to them. It’s a striking piece of art.

I looked it up and it sits facing the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, a constant reminder to Japan about what they did.

[–] KelvarCherry@piefed.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 days ago

Yes. The forcing of Korean captives into Japanese soldiers' "comfort women" is a common sore point in geopolitics between both Koreas and Japan. Japan has refused to give a real apology, and occasionally South Korea and Japan have visible clashes over the topic.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 168 points 3 days ago (7 children)

While I respect that everyone should have freedom of speech and expression, this guy was a complete moron:

Ismael was certain he wouldn't be imprisoned, saying in a stream: "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.”

Like, my God. “Don’t go shake those venomous snakes. They’ll bite you.” “No way, bro. They won’t even bite. Watch.”

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 99 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Maybe he was getting legal advice from ChatGPT.

[–] TassieTosser@aussie.zone 23 points 2 days ago

He did the same shit in Japan and only got deported and banned. He simply assumed Korea would be the same. Good to see Korea don't play.

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 55 points 3 days ago

You're absolutely right!

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[–] mellowistheyellow@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Freedom of speech and expression doesnt mean freedom from consequences

[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 56 points 3 days ago (3 children)

He needs to respect the laws of countries he visits. That comes before any expectation of "freedom of speech". (I refer to speech specifically because a lot of Americans seem to act like their constitution is the gold standard that the entire world should adhere to, but not everyone agrees)

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 59 points 3 days ago (1 children)

America itself doesn't even adhere to it.

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[–] badgermurphy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean, he does have those things. I think that there is a widespread crisis of understanding of what those freedoms actually entail. To distill it down philosophically, freedom of speech and expression mean that a person with those freedoms can say anything they want and express themselves in any way they like, so long as those actions don't infringe on the freedoms of anyone else.

There are no main characters, so everyone gets the same rights (for the sake of discussion; I know there are a million caveats here). Any right that everyone gets has to have borders around each individual, or those rights are auto-trampled by everyone else, for everyone.

This guy will have 6 months to reflect and learn that nuance. Let's see if he does!

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

This guy will have 6 months to reflect and learn that nuance.

I suspect he'll turn this into another spectacle. I'm more disgusted with social media platforms that continue to monetize his behavior

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[–] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 158 points 3 days ago (5 children)

he's been banned from pretty much all streaming platforms, including Twitch, Kick, Rumble, and Parti.

When you manage to get banned from both Kick and Rumble you really should be re-evaluating your life choices...

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 54 points 2 days ago (6 children)

I've never even heard of those platforms 🤷

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 73 points 2 days ago (2 children)

They’re “alt” platforms for people who feel like Twitch and YouTube are too “woke and gay” and they’re run by crypto gambling companies

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I appreciate the explanation but I'm fine with being ignorant on this one. Never understood the appeal of streamers in the first place

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Never understood the appeal of streamers in the first place

And how. The whole "genre" of dumbass talks to camera is fucking terrible.

I guess everyone had to "pivot to video" when audiences became fucking illiterate.

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[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 112 points 2 days ago (3 children)

It would be really fucking rich... If they live-streamed him doing prison labor for 6 months.

[–] BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

He'd have more publicity than ever in his career

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I don't think that would be a bad thing.

The stockades never should have gone away. (Figuratively speaking, publicly shaming people for being stupid assholes needs to come back)

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'd even pay to upgrade him to a north Korean prison labor camp

[–] GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

He's a slimeball, but no human being deserves that.

[–] Wispy2891@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I agree, I was hyperbolic

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[–] MyBrainHurts@piefed.ca 27 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't think I've ever watched a streamer before and would happily change that to watch this.

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Isn't this just a guy with mental illness that needs professional help? Not defending anything he's done, it's just that I feel like this guy has a list of identifiable issues that can be cured or managed with help and medication

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 45 points 3 days ago (6 children)

Never heard of this guy. But let me see if I have the basic jist of the story just from context of the headline, and that photo.

I'm going to guess he's some 19 year old, who feels he owns the world. He feels he's the main character, and totally untouchable.

So he goes off to these foreign countries, acts like an ass, and now he's shocked to find out that other countries ALSO have rules, and laws, and also think he's an asshole breaking their laws.

So basically this story's TLDR, if I have everything right is basically:

FAFO

[–] drcobaltjedi@programming.dev 35 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Having read half-ish of his wikipedia article, the only thing I'll correct you on is his age, 25, otherwise that's on point.

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[–] EtAl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 34 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Kudos to South Korea for doing what Japan wouldn't. Maybe that's what happens when the Japanese "justice" system, based on confession instead of evidence, meets a sociopath that lies faster than he blinks.

[–] Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 17 points 2 days ago

Japan could have put him in prison without trial until he confessed. They chose not to prosecute, presumably because they didn't want him in the country for even longer.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 25 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Wow, I can think of quite a few more personalities and "influencers" and authors that I'd love to see go to a prison labor camp.

Benny Johnson, LibsOfTikTok, Bannon, Roger Stone, founder of the "Proud" Boys, Curtis Yarvin, Nick Fuentes....

[–] badgermurphy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I think that most of these guys know what radioactive lightning rods they are, and are savvy enough to at least understand that if they leave the safety of their domestic propaganda apparatus, they're on their own in an environment likely hostile to them.

This guy's apparently limited understanding of his role and where his bread is buttered thought he could make the same ass of himself over there as he did back home without consequence, and he was mistaken.

Unfortunately, I think most of those you listed, while dumb in a lot of ways, are savvy enough to know to keep a low profile when they go into enemy territory, which is essentially any place with a population higher than a bus.

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