Fighting fake news or squeezing free speech? Amended law sparks partisan battle over online censorship.

Rival parties in Korea are sparring over whether a new online content law prevents the spread of disinformation, as it is intended, or unjustly restricts free speech.  

An amendment to the Act of Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, which took effect on Tuesday after being passed by the ruling Democratic Party (DP)-led National Assembly last December, allows courts to impose damages up to five times the harm caused by “false and manipulated information” online. 

The DP on Tuesday pushed back against the main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) criticism that the revised law is a "tool for censorship," calling the claim a "distortion of the facts."

"This is the minimum legal framework needed to stop people from creating and spreading false information and to hold them accountable,” DP floor leader Han Byung-do said during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul. “The bill makes anyone who knowingly posts false information that harms others liable for up to five times the damages. It also allows courts to fine anyone up to 1 billion won [$656,000] for repeatedly sharing information that a court has ruled to be false. How does this bill silence people or promote dictatorship? The PPP is falsely portraying it as a tool for government censorship."

PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig said Tuesday that his party will “file a constitutional complaint” over the revised law.

"The biggest problem with this law is that it lets the government decide what is true, what is false and what counts as hate speech, then punish people accordingly," he said during a party meeting. “When censorship and the fear of being labeled make most people stay silent, that's a dictatorship.”

Even if the PPP files a constitutional complaint, however, it does not immediately suspend the law. Only if the Constitutional Court grants a temporary suspension can the law’s effect be paused before a final ruling. 

Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, meanwhile, stressed that the law will still guarantee freedom of expression.

“The government will protect people's right to express criticism and different opinions while taking firm action against clearly false and manipulated information and illegal activities,” Han said as she presided over her first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. "Online platforms are where people communicate and discuss public issues. They have also become an important part of democracy. But as the online world has grown, so have problems like the spread of false and manipulated information and other illegal activities. This amendment is meant to reduce those problems."

Online platforms with more than 1 million daily users such as Naver, Kako and YouTube are subject to the law. If these platforms remove or block the content reported as false information, they must explain the reason for its decision and inform both the person who posted the content and person who filed the report.

Platforms decide whether to take action on content based on their own content policies, while private fact-checking organizations that receive financial and administrative support under the Korea Media and Communications Commission verify whether the posts contain false or manipulated information. Once a court has ruled that information is false, repeated distribution of that information may trigger penalties under the law.

Civic groups warn that authorizing government-funded organizations to decide what constitutes false information could see authorities abuse their power and influence.

"The revised law goes far beyond acceptable limits, places excessive restrictions on free speech, and effectively gives the government the power to decide what is true, raising serious concerns about the future of democracy," nonprofit legal group People Making Good Laws said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The group added that people cannot tell whether their speech falls under the law and may choose to stay silent rather than risk punishment.

The government, however, said it would limit its actions — for example, it will not use AI to monitor every online post or message sent through an app.  

“Whether information constitutes false or manipulated content is determined by private platform operators under their own policies,” a Korea Media and Communications Commission official said in a statement on Monday. “Private messages that are not publicly available to the public are outside the scope of the act.”

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]