The Democratic Party of Korea launched the 'People's Sovereignty Media Reform Special Committee' (Media Reform Committee) on the 14th, placing the introduction of punitive damages for malicious fake news at the forefront of its reform agenda. Representative Jeong Cheong-rae noted a speedy approach, stating, "We will complete this like lightning before Chuseok," but there are concerns among the opposition and the media about 'chilling freedom of expression' and 'potential political misuse,' suggesting a rocky path ahead.
The Democratic Party held a media reform launch ceremony and its first meeting in the National Assembly that afternoon. Following the launch of the Prosecutorial Reform Committee on the 6th and the Judicial Reform Committee on the 12th, it had established all three major reform committees, including 'Prosecutor, Judiciary, and Media' just 12 days after Representative Jeong took office.
At the launch ceremony, Representative Jeong Cheong-rae reaffirmed his commitment to the introduction of punitive damages. He emphasized, "Punitive damages should only apply in cases where maliciously and intentionally repeat fake news production occurs," adding that, "The punitive damages we are pursuing are very narrow. They won't even cover 0.0001% of healthy journalism." He claimed that, "If the compensation system is introduced, it will serve a preventive function."
Representative Jeong previously advocated for the introduction of punitive damages in the 21st National Assembly. However, he was unable to push it forward due to opposition from the People Power Party and media organizations at that time. After entering the 22nd National Assembly, he presented the amendment to the broadcasting-related laws as his first bill, alongside the revised Media Arbitration Act (Law on Media Mediation and Damage Relief). The amendment's key provisions include allowing courts to order damages up to three times the amount for false reporting and requiring corrections to be made in the same space and quantity for erroneous reports.
The special committee outlined its reform priorities, which include handling the amendments to the Broadcasting Act (Broadcasting Act, Act on the Promotion of Broadcasting Culture, and Korean Educational Broadcasting System Act) followed by follow-up measures, normalizing the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Communications Standards Commission, normalizing broadcasters such as YTN and TBS, pushing for amendments to the Media Arbitration Act to address malicious reports, advancing amendments to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection to block the spread of false manipulated information on YouTube, and reforming news portals and the Korea Press Foundation.
The core issue regarding the punitive damages system revolves around the criteria and proof of malicious false reporting. The committee secretary, Noh Jong-myeon, stated, "Malicious false reports are subject to regulation by their nature, but the challenge is proof," and that they are trying to devise specific measures to determine in what cases the burden of proof should be shifted. This means they are considering a system where if the claimant asserts intent, the media organization must prove that they did not act with malice.
The special committee plans to include the strengthening of the principle of proportionality in corrections in the amendments to the Media Arbitration Act. This would dictate the volume and position of corrections based on the size and impact of the false reporting. There are also discussions on differentiating liability for damages based on the scale of damage and the influence of the media outlet.
The Democratic Party is also considering the editing of portal news and operations of comments, along with issues regarding comment manipulation as major reform tasks. The dissemination of false manipulated information by individual media, such as YouTube, will also be subject to regulation. They appear to be reviewing simultaneous measures to include YouTube within the media category through amendments to the Media Arbitration Act, and regulatory measures through amendments to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
The special committee will hold a closed meeting in the National Assembly on the 18th to specify the reform tasks, and on the 19th, they will host a public debate focusing on the normalization of the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Communications Standards Commission. On the morning of September 1st, there will be a continuous discussion on the direction of the amendments to the Media Arbitration Act, followed by discussions in the afternoon on regulating false manipulated information on YouTube.
Representative Jeong declared that he would finish the work "like a storm and lightning before Chuseok". As the party leadership has urged for prompt legislation, there is a high possibility of bill initiation around the regular session of the National Assembly in September. However, there are forecasts that a backlash could arise if the bill is pushed through without public discourse and social consensus, due to being caught up in a rush.