Seoul Seeks Web Restrictions to Curb Unrest

By Michael Fitzpatrick

The South Korean government is pursuing a series of restrictions on Internet use to prevent what the embattled administration of President Lee Myung Bak calls the spread of false information that prompts social unrest.

Under the proposal, all forum and chat room users will be required to make verifiable registrations using their real names. In addition, the Korea Communications Commission would make it mandatory that Web sites take down for 30 days articles that received complaints for being fraudulent or slanderous. During that time, the Korean Communications Standards Commission, the country’s media arbitration body, would rule on whether to allow the article to be published again.

Regulators have not worked out what penalties violators would face.

This is not the first time South Korea has attempted to rein in the Internet, said Robert Koehler, an English-language blogger on Korea based in Seoul.

“Even under progressive presidents like Roh Moo Hyun, police blocked pro-North Korean Web sites, demanded pro-North Korean postings be erased and even arrested two activists for – among other things – downloading ‘The Communist Manifesto,’” he said.

“It should also be pointed out that the government’s charge – that there is a lot of misinformation being spread on the Net, and that this can cause major social problems – is not completely without merit, even if the government needs to be careful in the manner in which it approaches the issue.”

The conservative government, led by Lee, was buffeted by recent mass protests over U.S. beef imports that were organized and incited over the Internet. The government attributed the disruptions to rumors and lies propagated by Internet users, and accused service providers of failing to police its content and of providing a platform for hate, libelous claims and cyberbullying.

The bill, which is being prepared by the governing party, will be submitted to the regular session of the National Assembly in November.

The proposals in South Korea follow discussion of similar measures in Japan, where a government panel has recommended requiring Internet service providers, or ISPs, to enforce certain controls. The governing party is seeking to have the regulations enacted by 2010.

China, meanwhile, continues to deny access to some foreign-based Web sites.

An army of Internet police watch the content circulating within China, which has most Internet users in the world. But Internet- based companies do much of the work, checking rigorously for political content, according to Rebecca MacKinnon, a professor of new media at the University of Hong Kong.

In response to the prospect of the measures in South Korea, the largest Korean portal, Naver, said it would drop all news from its front page. Its rival, Daum, has offered an olive branch to old media. Daum says it will share revenue from its banner advertisements on news stories with newspapers, television and other media outlets providing the articles.

Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.

(c) 2008 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.