"Constitutional Violation of Election Law and Public Officials Act" Jin Hyewon... 'Emoticon Demonstration' in Court

On the 19th trial, directly accessed Facebook
Dispute between Prosecutor Jin and prosecution over emoticons shown in comments
"Fundamental infringement on freedom of political expression"
Claims violation of principles of proportionality and clarity as well

On the 19th, during the trial of Prosecutor Jin Hyewon (47, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 34), who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the National Public Service Act, there was a dispute over the emoticons displayed in comments on Facebook.
Photo by Prosecutor Jin Hyewon's Facebook capture

"(Thumbs up) This is the ‘Like’ button, right? Then there’s ‘Haha’, ‘Wow’, ‘Sad’, and this is ‘Angry’" (Judge)

"Prosecutor, you also clicked ‘Haha’ on the post about mosquitoes being abundant in summer.

Then isn’t this a campaign against election?" (Prosecutor Jin Hyewon)

"It could also be a campaign for election" (Prosecutor)

On the 19th at courtroom 303 of the Seoul Western District Court, a dispute arose between the defendant’s side and the prosecution over a prosecutor’s Facebook post. This concerns Prosecutor Jin Hyewon (47, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 34), who was indicted for defaming opposition candidates including Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on social networking services (SNS) ahead of the by-election in April last year.

At the trial, Prosecutor Jin accessed Facebook directly to show the post she uploaded and argued that the prosecution’s indictment was excessive. On March 7 last year, Jin posted on Facebook titled ‘Vertical Garden’ with photos of Seokpajeong Seoul Museum of Art and others. The prosecution claimed that Jin clicked the ‘Haha’ reaction on comments under the post, interpreting it as an expression of favor, thus supporting Park Young-sun’s vertical garden pledge during her candidacy for Seoul mayor. The prosecution argued, "Excluding ‘Angry’ and ‘Sad’, the other reactions should be seen as expressions of favor."

Jin’s side countered, "(Facebook emoticon reactions) can have different meanings depending on the user," adding, "‘Haha’ and ‘Cheer up’ can also be seen as expressions of disagreement." They also pointed out that Jin clicked ‘Haha’ on comments critical of Park’s pledge, saying, "There is a comment mentioning ‘a downside of the vertical garden is that it attracts many bugs,’ which is negative about the pledge, and since ‘Haha’ was clicked on it, isn’t this rather a campaign against Park’s election?"

After this exchange, Jin’s side did not agree with any of the evidence presented by the prosecution. The prosecution then sought to call witnesses to prove Jin’s charges, but Jin’s side argued, "(Calling and questioning witnesses) would only result in opinion statements rather than proof, so it is meaningless," and said they would also call witnesses to present opinions that Jin did not engage in election campaigning.

Earlier, Jin’s side filed a request for constitutional review on June 11 at the Seoul Western District Court, arguing that the Public Official Election Act and the National Public Service Act, which allow punishment for political expressions such as Facebook emoticon reactions, are unconstitutional. According to the request document obtained by this outlet, Jin argued that the ‘illegal election campaigning’ charge, which punishes those who campaign despite being prohibited under the National Public Service Act, and the ‘political campaigning’ charge, which punishes public officials for political activities, violate the Constitution.

Jin stated that posting on her Facebook was not ‘election campaigning’ but an exercise of the fundamental right of ‘freedom of political expression.’ She further argued that these laws infringe on the essential content of fundamental rights and violate the principles of proportionality and clarity. Jin’s side pointed out problems with applying these laws to ▲expressions unrelated to official duties without using public official status ▲expressing opinions on policies and candidate qualifications via information and communication networks ▲expressions made individually ▲interactive expressions using SNS ▲and emotional expressions.

Jin’s defense attorney said, "While there have been cases of indictments for ‘Like’ reactions on the main text of Facebook posts, this is the first case worldwide to indict reactions on comments." Jin stated regarding the constitutional review request, "Since these regulations are so flawed, I do not think the constitutional review will be dismissed."

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