On the first day of enforcement of the so-called "fake news punishment law (amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection)," a YouTube video by broadcaster Kim Ou-joon that had been reported was blocked.
According to the industry on the 22nd, YouTube restricted a video of Kim, reported the previous day by Lee Dong-jae, a guest editorial writer at Maeil Shinmun (former Channel A reporter), so it cannot be viewed from Korean IP addresses.
The video now displays the notice, "Content unavailable on this country domain due to a defamation report."
YouTube's legal support team is said to have informed the Commissioner that, "After reviewing the report of a legal violation, we blocked the problematic content from being viewed on the relevant country domain."
The move came after the amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection was introduced and after a court found Kim guilty on a defamation charge. Under the amended Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, online platforms of a certain size, including YouTube, must fulfill self-regulatory obligations such as establishing a reporting and handling system and operating policies for false or manipulated information.
Earlier, on the 7th, when the amended Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection was introduced, the Commissioner requested deletion and an account restriction, saying that part of the "Kim Ou-joon's Das Boeida" video uploaded to the YouTube channel "Ddanzi Broadcasting Station" contained distorted claims about him that damaged his reputation.
Kim was charged with making a total of six statements on radio and YouTube over several months in 2020 to the effect that lawmaker Lee had pressed Lee Cheol, former head of Value Invest Korea (VIK), to "submit a false tip saying he gave money to Rhyu Si-min." The first trial panel handling the case on the 14th recognized defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and fined Kim 20 million won.