South Korean law targeting 'fake news' takes effect as journalists' groups raise concerns
The law lets courts award damages up to five times proven losses and requires major platforms to remove or suspend reported false content.
- South Korea began enforcing a law Tuesday allowing courts to award punitive damages up to five times proven losses against news outlets and social media channels for spreading false information.
- President Lee Jae Myung's Democratic Party backed the legislation, passing it through the National Assembly in December; supporters argue the law is necessary to combat disinformation fueling division and hate speech.
- The Journalists Association warned the law creates an "unavoidable chilling effect," while The Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club expressed concern enforcement could erode democratic foundations by discouraging scrutiny of power.
- Platforms with more than 1 million daily users must remove content or suspend accounts upon reports of false information; Kim Hong-yeol, a professor at Duksung Women's University, warned this could lead to removal of legitimate content.
- The Korea Media and Communications Commission downplayed censorship concerns last week, stating private operators decide content removal, though U.S. Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers criticized the law as endangering tech cooperation.
59 Articles
59 Articles
Los Angeles Times
Independent EspañolThe law allows courts to award compensation of up to five times the asserted losses against news organizations and large social media channels
South Korean law targeting 'fake news' takes effect as journalist groups raise concerns
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea began enforcing a law Tuesday that allows steep punitive damages against news outlets and social media influencers for spreading false information as journalist groups warned it could chill public discourse and invite censorship.
Washington Times
The New York LedgerSouth Korean law targeting ‘fake news’ takes effect as journalist groups raise concerns
South Korea began enforcing a law Tuesday that allows steep punitive damages against news outlets and social media influencers for spreading false information as journalist groups warned it could chill public discourse and invite censorship.
A sharp law is intended to put an end to false information on online portals. The opposition fears self-censorship.
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