Jamaica Did Not Ban K-Pop

10th June 2021

The claim came from a satirical source (Getty Images).

The Claim

Several social media platforms have recently been reposting a meme that claims, “Jamaica Becomes The First Country To Make K-Pop Illegal.” The top half of the meme shows a picture of BTS, a popular K-Pop boy band, and the bottom half shows a “Carefully he’s a hero” meme template with the Jamaican flag over Spiderman’s face. This supposed news came as a relief for some, and disappointment for others. One user wondered if the motivation was caused by "racism or due to shitty music.”

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Misbar’s Analysis

While Jamaica does have a history of censoring music, it has taken no legal stance on K-Pop. The title from the viral meme originated from a satirical story from 2018. The story included fake quotes from Jamaican officials, including: “We all know how annoying k-pop fans can be, so it’s better safe than sorry,” and “More and more teenage girls started following k-pop bands in Jamaica. They’re obsessed with them and they’re not doing homework, working or doing anything else.” 8Satire, the birthplace of the article, has not posted a new article since late 2019.

This is not the first time that this claim has circulated. Posts sharing this meme or the claim of Jamaica making K-Pop illegal have cropped up from time to time since the publication of the original article. If this pattern continues, this claim will once again pop up in approximately seven months.