'Fake News Punishment Act' Takes Effect in 1 Day... Portals and Platforms Announce Revised Management Policies

Revision of Service Terms for Handling False and Manipulated Information
Establishment of a System for Receiving User Reports

Kim Jongcheol, Chairman of the Committee for the Tokyo Visit, delivering a speech. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

With the enforcement of the amended Information and Communications Network Act (Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc.) just one day away, domestic portal and platform companies such as NAVER announced on July 6 that they would update their post management policies to reflect the changes in the relevant laws. In addition to revising their service terms to address false and manipulated information, they have also established reporting systems to receive related reports from users.

According to the IT industry on July 6, the amended Information and Communications Network Act and its enforcement decree are set to take effect on July 7. The law requires major platform operators of a certain scale to establish self-regulatory policies regarding false and manipulated information, process user reports, and release transparency reports. Specifically, information and communications service providers with an average of at least 1 million daily users over the past three months as of the end of the previous year are subject to this law.

Accordingly, starting July 7, large platform companies will be required to: ▲ establish self-regulatory policies regarding illegal and false/manipulated information; ▲ receive and process user reports and notify users of the results; ▲ publish transparency reports. Platform companies will thus be held responsible for the distribution of false and manipulated information. From the very first day of enforcement on the 7th, companies operating public platforms must establish policies related to illegal and false/manipulated information and set up procedures to receive reports from users.

Whether reported information constitutes false or manipulated information must be determined directly by each platform. Platforms will make these determinations in accordance with their newly revised management policies, which reflect the amended law, and most intend to base their judgments on the False/Manipulated Information Self-Regulation Policy Guidelines of the Korea Internet Self-Governance Organization (KISO). In this process, the verification results of private fact-checking organizations may be referenced if necessary.

Major platform companies with more than 1 million users have already completed preparations to revise their terms of service and establish reporting procedures. A NAVER official stated, "We have already been taking action on false and manipulated information in accordance with our internal guidelines," adding, "For information that is clearly identified as false or manipulated, we will further strengthen management, and as this is the first week of enforcement, we will closely monitor the situation and actively address any shortcomings that arise."

Kakao notified users on June 30 that it would implement features to report illegal information and false/manipulated information, in compliance with the amended Information and Communications Network Act. These features will be available from July 7, when the law takes effect.

However, the amended Information and Communications Network Act does not apply to general chats conducted via KakaoTalk. Because general chats are private conversations between chat participants and are not considered public platforms accessible to the general public, they are excluded from the law’s scope. Likewise, open chats that allow anonymous participation—specifically, one-on-one open chats and group open chats—are also not subject to the law. According to Kakao, the “open chat community,” where conversations can be previewed without joining, and the “open chat cover,” which is the background image of open chat rooms, are subject to the law.

U.S. Committee: "Safeguards in Place to Prevent Erosion of Press and Expression Freedoms"

AXZ, which operates the portal site 'Daum,' also announced on July 1 that it would revise its service management policy ahead of the enforcement of the amended Information and Communications Network Act. As a result, from the 7th, the deliberate distribution of false and manipulated information will be prohibited. Daum operates public platform functions, including Daum News, Daum Cafe, and Tistory (blog).

If a platform fails to take necessary actions under the new law, the Korea Communications Commission may issue a corrective order. If a company fails to comply with a corrective order without justifiable reason, it may face criminal penalties in accordance with the Information and Communications Network Act.

Amid intensifying political debate over potential infringement of freedom of expression, the U.S. Committee distributed explanatory materials on the afternoon of July 6 to dispel misunderstandings. A U.S. Committee official explained, "The amended Information and Communications Network Act is not intended to regulate political criticism, satire, or the expression of diverse opinions," adding, "The law only regulates information that directly incites violence or discrimination against specific individuals or groups, or seriously promotes hatred in a way that significantly undermines human dignity."

The official further noted that whether a particular post constitutes hate speech is determined by comprehensively considering not only the content but also the circumstances of its creation, context, and societal impact. Therefore, the mere fact that someone finds a post offensive does not alone mean it constitutes hate speech. 

Regarding concerns from some quarters about "government pre-censorship of online content," the U.S. Committee stated, "The amended Information and Communications Network Act excludes false and manipulated information from the review jurisdiction of the Korea Communications Standards Commission to protect freedom of expression. Whether information constitutes false or manipulated information is determined by large-scale information and communications service providers according to their self-regulatory policies. In addition, procedural safeguards have been established, such as excluding public interest reporting from enhanced punitive damages, to ensure that press and expression freedoms are not eroded."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.