Korean law allows huge damages for fake news

South Korea yesterday began implementing a law allowing significant punitive damages to be imposed on news organizations and social media influencers for spreading false information, with journalists’ groups warning that it could restrict public debate and invite censorship.

Journalists and civil liberties groups say the law’s vague wording does not clearly define what information it prohibits and lacks adequate safeguards for the media, warning that this is likely to discourage media coverage of government officials, politicians and large corporations.

The law allows courts to impose compensation of up to five times the proven losses against news organizations and major social media channels, including content makers on the YouTube platform, who circulate illegal, false, or manipulated information, causing harm or generating profit.

Furthermore, those who distributed information more than twice after a court ruled it was false or tampered with will be fined up to 1 billion won ($656,000) by the country’s media regulator. Internet companies that operate large social media platforms with more than a million daily users must take action, such as removing content or suspending user accounts when they receive reports of false or fabricated information.

The Liberal Democratic Party, to which South Korean President Lee Jae-myung belongs, supported the law, and the National Assembly passed it last December despite a boycott by the conservative opposition.

The Foreign Journalists Club in Seoul expressed its concern about the potential impact on the work of the media and the freedom to circulate information due to the law.