Transition Team's 'Abolition of Portal News Editing Rights' Policy... Domestic Industry Asks, "Can the Same Standards Be Applied to Google?"

Park Sung-joong, the secretary of the Science, Technology, and Education Subcommittee of the 20th Presidential Transition Committee, is conducting a briefing. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Nahum Kang and Seungjin Lee] As the Presidential Transition Committee announced plans to abolish portal sites' news editing rights and gradually switch the news partnership system to outlink, the domestic related industry expressed concerns, calling it a "policy that does not reflect the opinions of the industry or users."

A portal industry official expressed concern in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 2nd, saying, "As portal companies gradually shift news services to a subscription model and reduce news editing rights, sudden regulations by authorities could cause significant confusion for users and media outlets."

Earlier, the Transition Committee announced that it would consider abolishing portal sites' news editing rights. It also stated plans to establish an expert-centered Algorithm Transparency Committee as a legal body within portals to verify that portals do not serve as hosts for confirmation bias and fake news. Additionally, it revealed plans to gradually convert the portal news partnership system to outlink.

The official pointed out, "If news editing rights are suddenly removed and the system is shifted to a 'complete subscription' model, concentration toward major media companies could intensify. Articles from small media outlets that fail to secure a certain number of subscribers may naturally be pushed out, and in-depth planning and high-quality articles could be overlooked, harming media diversity."

Regarding the outlink transition, he added, "Most media companies have been surveyed as not preferring outlink, so it is questionable whether the decision was made reflecting the media industry's stance and opinions."

Concerns about potential reverse discrimination between domestic and foreign operators have also been raised. Currently, 'Internet News Service Providers' are likely to be subject to the Transition Committee's regulations, but the global number one portal, Google, is not included. Since Google also arranges news on the first screen of its application, there could be controversy over reverse discrimination.

Another industry official said, "Google is not even registered as a domestic operator, and since Google also provides news, it is questionable whether the Transition Committee will apply the same standards to Google in the future."

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