hankyoreh

The administration and the Grand National Party say they are going to revise laws like the Newspaper Act so as to be able to classify portal news sites as news media. Portal sites choose, arrange, and write titles for news articles, they are saying, so they need to bear the responsibility that goes with that.

Since a considerable number of Korean citizens are indeed getting a lot of their news at portal sites, one surely might say there needs to be some legal basis, framework, and rules in place. There is in fact a need for some apparatus to provide developmental momentum in the future, given Korea’s high-tech Internet base and culture. However, it does not look like the administration and ruling party’s motives for wanting regulation originated in such thinking.

What the administration and ruling party want to do, by amending the law, is place increasing responsibility on portal sites by, among other things, making even posts on portal sites subject to the measures that can be taken against news organizations. While they have yet to put a concrete proposal for revising the law on display, if that is what they have in mind, they might even come up with measures that are still more controlling. As early on as after the larger candlelight protests they took action against portal sites. They have already drafted measures for forcing the deletion of Internet posts, and they are working on creating a classification of crime called “Internet insult.” These are all ideas that are deserving of criticism for attempting to control popular opinion that is critical, instead of encouraging opinion that is diverse. If the law is revised in the context of all this, it will only be politically motivated, “taming” the portal sites to the administration’s liking.

One also wonders how it is appropriate to try to tie portal sites in with the Newspaper Act and other laws and regulations that cover older media. The communication and media environment enjoyed by the Korean public is very diverse, and is changing and developing every day. It is now a regular thing to have content transferred in real time by the Internet and mobile communication, and to have users participate in interactive formats. It is quite different from existing media like newspapers and broadcasting, in which one-way delivery and usage is the norm. It would be both anachronistic and impossible to tie new media in with the old legal framework. Trying to do so in spite of that could crush to death the endless possibilities for Internet development.

If regulation is needed, new legislation that provides for promotion and support, instead of control and suppression, would be the way to go. Through this you would have free competition in the market of public opinion and allow the Internet, which has already developed considerably mature “self-cleansing functions,” to do the rest. The principle that says the best way to regulate the media is to regulate it the least must be maintained here. This is not something about which there should be hasty, impure, politically-motivated attacks.

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