Justice Party "Media Reform Optimized for Ruling Party Raises Concerns Over Citizens' Right to Know"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Justice Party expressed "strong concern and regret" over the ruling party's unilateral passage of the amendment to the Media Arbitration Act, which passed the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's bill subcommittee yesterday.

On the 28th, the Justice Party stated in a commentary, "Freedom of the press is directly linked to the public's right to know, so the content of media reform legislation must be precise and the pace must be cautious." The amendment to the Media Arbitration Act mainly allows for punitive damages of up to five times for false or fabricated reports caused by intentional or gross negligence by the media. It also includes provisions requiring corrections to be published with the same time length and size as the original report.

Lee Dong-young, the chief spokesperson, pointed out, "The ruling party-led media bill excludes reforms demanded by the media sector such as public broadcasting governance reform, amendments to the Newspaper Act to secure editorial independence, and the Regional Newspaper Support Act." He added, "The amendment mainly introduces punitive damages by presuming intentional or gross negligence in cases where sources' statements are falsely or distortedly cited or laws are violated."

Lee criticized, "I am curious whether this is about media reform or media control."

He said, "The spread of fake news and sensational, biased reporting has made media reform a timely demand, and it is right to hold media companies appropriately accountable for malicious distortion and false reporting." However, he expressed concern that "because the criteria for judging malice and distortion are ambiguous, it could lead to excessive litigation and severely restrict freedom of the press."

Lee expressed strong concern that "the function and role of the media for citizens' right to know could be diminished and restricted," emphasizing, "The Media Arbitration Act is not an issue that the ruling party should push unilaterally and arbitrarily under the name of 'media reform,' but should precede social consensus through gathering opinions and discussions among various stakeholders."

He added, "Media reform should be for ordinary citizens, and if media reform optimized for the ruling party is pursued, freedom of the press will be damaged and citizens' right to know will not be protected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.