'Rearview camera prank' sparks panic on Instagram

The "rearview camera prank," in which social media users pop their faces into car cameras to startle drivers, has caused controversy in Korea, prompting Instagram to hide the hashtag.

A face seen through a vehicle's rear-view camera. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A ‘rearview camera prank’ is the latest social media challenge that has sparked controversy in Korea for its potentially dangerous stunt.

The challenge, which involves popping one's face into a car's rearview camera in order to startle the driver, had its hashtag hidden on Instagram after a user's experience of his girlfriend playing the prank on him sparked controversy online.

The user uploaded his experience on Thursday. According to his post, the user had bid farewell to his girlfriend and was pulling out of a parking space in reverse when sensors alerted him to something behind his car.

The sensors, it turned out, had detected his girlfriend, whom he thought had gone home. She had instead secretly gone “behind the car and placed her face close to the rearview camera,” according to the user.

The prank is one of many challenges that have circulated on social media of late. Similar pranks have been performed outside of Korea, with people pasting scary images onto backup cameras to scare drivers.

The hashtag for ″backup camera prank″ in Korean does not yield any results on Instagram as of Friday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The user said he was angry with his girlfriend, as he thought the prank was dangerous. Many community users agreed with him. The controversy grew, ultimately prompting Instagram to hide the prank's hashtag.

Risky social media challenges are popular worldwide, and some — such as TikTok's infamous “blackout challenge” — have ended in tragedy. Rumors that the rearview camera prank has led to fatalities have been swirling since its rise. As of now, however, there have been no deaths or injuries related to the rearview camera prank officially reported.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]