Platforms Complain About the Burden of the First Judgment on False Information

As revised Information and Communications Network Act puts platforms in charge of making the initial judgment on reports of false or manipulated information, the burden on the industry is growing. The Broadcasting and Communications Commission designated nine domestic and overseas platforms, including Naver, Kakao, Google, and Meta, as entities subject to response obligations. Platforms say that the standards for false and manipulated information are ambiguous, making it difficult to make autonomous judgments. There are many cases where the facts change over time, and because the reporting system could also be politically abused, they say they have no choice but to be cautious about hasty deletion or blocking. Industry insiders believe it is highly likely that a method of referring difficult cases to external review bodies such as the Korea Internet SelfGovernance Organization (KISO) will be used. Experts pointed out that the key is how predictably the system is operated, and that the government needs to present casebased standards.