[Editorial] Gagging Korea’s netizens with an outdated law

Posted on : 2007-11-01 09:52 KST Modified on : 2007-11-01 09:52 KST

Article 93 of the Public Official Election Law prohibits the posting or screening of any expression in support or opposition of a political party or candidate with the intention of influencing the election’s outcome within 180 days of the day of the vote in question. This part of the law serves to gag Korea’s netizens, some 618 of whom are being investigated by the police for violating the law ahead of the presidential election that will take place at the end of the year. The National Election Commission has demanded that material be removed from Internet sites in more than 50,000 instances.

This is not the first election season during which this article of the law has been applied. The reason it has come to this is because the police and the NEC are going overboard in cracking down on Internet material. It is randomly cracking down on writing and pictures that are re-postings of material that was reported in the media, writing that talks about how the election might turn out and expressions of personal political opinion. A member of the National Assembly was told by the NEC to remove a statement he had posted on his official website. This is not something that can be happening in a democratic society, when a person can get in trouble for posting personal views and when it is not even campaigning. If we are to follow the interpretations of the NEC and the police, a considerable amount of the writing and audio visual material appearing in the media is in violation of the law.


The law itself is of course also a problem. The article in question was designed to prevent mutual slander between candidates using material illegal according to the election law. But this was legislated without consideration for the Internet era, allowing room for the interpretation that the authorities can prohibit people from publishing personal material on the World Wide Web. There are close to no regulations on election campaigning on the Internet in foreign countries. The law was recently amended so as to allow members of the National Assembly to spend less money and say more of what is on their minds. If that is going to be how it is for politicians, voters need to be given more freedom to express their views. A law that covers the mouths of the voters right ahead of an election is crying out to be laughed at.

The NEC and the police need to stop their excessive application of the law. If libel is the problem, the police can always prosecute people according to criminal law. If we want to get rid of the potential for controversy, the National Assembly will have to amend the election law. It was way back in 2003 that the NEC first announced its position that online campaigning should be allowed at any and all times, even during the official campaign period. The law has not changed, however, because of opposition from the Grand National Party. In fact, the GNP has proposed an amendment to the law that would go much farther in stifling expression by Internet users, even more than is the case today. The basic rights of the people should not be trampled on any longer because of political interests.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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