Assemblyman Yongbin Lee Urges Urgent Measures to Prevent Damage from 'False Information and Star Rating Terror'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Yong-bin (Gwangju Gwangsan-gap, Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee) argued that urgent measures are needed for platform operators to prevent damages caused by false information and malicious star rating attacks.

On the 5th, during the National Assembly audit, Rep. Lee pointed out to Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and Kim Beom-jun, CEO of Woowa Brothers (Baedal Minjok), who appeared as witnesses, the question of “who is truly responsible for preventing unfair damages caused by false information, malicious comments, and star rating attacks.”

He subsequently urged them to actively prepare damage prevention measures and take responsible follow-up actions.

According to a self-employed business survey conducted by the Korea Economic Research Institute in August, 4 out of 10 self-employed individuals are considering closing their businesses.

The reasons for considering closure included decreased sales (45%), fixed cost burdens (2.62%), loan repayment burdens, and worsening financial conditions (22%).

Information provided by the Korea Communications Commission to Rep. Lee’s office shows that 6 out of 10 self-employed individuals have experienced damages due to malicious reviews, and among them, 4.2 out of 6 complain that star rating reviews affect their sales.

On that day, Rep. Lee said, “When self-employed individuals face unfair star rating attacks, their sales immediately drop sharply, causing significant damage to their livelihoods. Recently, it is impossible to even estimate the scale of unfair damages caused by false information or star rating attacks.”

He continued, “Would you want to use a store that received a star rating of 1.7? If the chairman had experienced star rating damages as a business owner, what would you do?” Chairman Han Sang-hyuk replied, “It seems problematic to use such a store, and there is a need to actively raise issues about the unfairness.”

Chairman Han of the Korea Communications Commission said, “If such unfair star ratings are being received, the policy authorities also bear a certain degree of responsibility to improve this,” and added, “We will actively cooperate with legislation to prevent damages caused by false information and star rating attacks.”

Kim Beom-jun, CEO of Woowa Brothers (Baedal Minjok), also stated, “We are well aware of the public’s concerns about platform companies and will not ignore issues between parties,” adding, “The National Franchisee Association has expressed the same opinion, and we are implementing policies that allow viewing reviews from other platforms as well. However, we believe consumers should also take responsibility for the reviews they write.”

He further said, “Regarding the criticism that platforms are exploitative economies disguised as sharing, we are striving to provide more opportunities through the platform, but there are many more things to pay attention to,” and added, “Considering the intent and direction of the bill, we will find what we can do.”

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