U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers said she will visit Korea to discuss the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
Vice Minister Rogers wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on the 30th local time, "Two days in Japan was far too short," and added, "Now I'm boarding an early-morning flight to Korea to discuss shipbuilding, the network law (Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection), and K-pop diplomacy."
Vice Minister Rogers previously expressed concern on X after the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection passed our National Assembly late last year, noting, "Korea's network law amendment may appear on its face to focus on addressing the problem of deepfakes that defame, but in practice it has far broader implications and jeopardizes technological cooperation."
She went on to argue, "While it is entirely understandable that deepfakes are a worrisome issue, rather than giving regulators 'invasive' powers, it is preferable to provide civil remedies to victims." Rogers is widely expected to advance the same view during this visit to Korea.
The amended Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection passed the National Assembly on Dec. 24 last year and is set to take effect starting in July. It defines information that incites violence or discrimination as illegal and centers on prohibiting and punishing the act of spreading illegal information and false or manipulated information on information and communications networks.
The U.S. Trump administration has raised objections to the bill on the grounds that it conflicts with its views on online content regulation and that domestic platform corporations such as Meta and Google could be directly affected.