A senior U.S. State Department official publicly criticized and expressed concern about Korea's amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, commonly called the "false or manipulated information eradication law."
Sarah Rogers, U.S. State Department Vice Minister for public diplomacy, said on the 30th (local time) on social media (SNS) X (formerly Twitter), "Korea's telecommunications network law amendment appears on the surface to focus on addressing the problem of defamatory deepfakes, but in reality its scope is much broader and could even jeopardize technological cooperation."
While acknowledging the seriousness of the deepfake problem, Vice Minister Rogers raised issues with the regulatory approach. Rogers said, "Deepfakes are clearly a serious concern, but rather than granting regulators intrusive powers to censor content, it is preferable to provide victims with civil remedies."
According to the State Department website, Vice Minister Rogers is responsible for "defending freedom of expression" under the Trump administration. Since taking office in Oct., Rogers has been broadly critical of regulations under the European Union (EU) Digital Services Act (DSA).
On the 23rd, Vice Minister Rogers also announced entry bans on five people, including Thierry Breton, former EU commissioner in charge of digital policy, saying, "Those who censor Americans' speech are not welcome in the United States."
The remarks raise the prospect that the U.S. dispute with Europe over "freedom of expression" could spread to relations between Korea and the United States. It is viewed as unusual for Vice Minister Rogers to directly target and criticize a Korean bill.
Meanwhile, the amendment to the telecommunications network law, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, passed the National Assembly plenary session and was approved at a Cabinet meeting on the 30th. It requires those who intentionally distribute illegal or false or manipulated information to pay up to five times the damages.
Along with this, the government is pursuing the introduction of an AI labeling system to eradicate AI-based deepfake manipulated videos and false or exaggerated advertising, and is also seeking to expand the review scope of the Korea Media and Communications Commission to ensure expedited reviews.