Professor Roslyn Layton: "Google, which chased Facebook out of India, is now manipulating public opinion in Korea"

If Lobbying Fails, Google Mobilizes YouTubers and Threatens Policy Authorities
In the US, Citizen Groups Mobilize and Bombard Legislations with Petitions

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] It has been claimed that Google is manipulating public opinion in South Korea to block legislation mandating internet network usage fees, and that this is not the first such case. Analysts say that Google's use of the nonprofit organization Open Net and YouTubers to wage public opinion campaigns is a strategy developed by Google to respond to internet regulations in various countries.

Dr. Roslyn Layton, a telecommunications and broadcasting policy expert (Senior Columnist for Forbes USA and Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark, pictured), participated online on the 20th in the joint seminar titled "Internet Network Usage Fee Policy and Legislation: Issue Framing and Public Opinion Formation," where she made these claims. Currently, domestic internet service providers (ISPs) and overseas content providers (CPs) such as Google are sharply divided over the mandatory network usage fees. Network usage fees refer to the charges content providers pay for using the internet networks created by telecommunications operators.

The Background of Facebook's Ban in India is Google

Dr. Layton cited the case of the Indian government's ban on Facebook's Free Basics service in 2016. At that time, the Indian telecommunications regulator prohibited the service, stating that Free Basics violated net neutrality. Free Basics is a service that provides free internet access in countries with insufficient telecommunications infrastructure, such as India. According to Dr. Layton, when Facebook proposed to offer the service for free in partnership with Indian telecom operator Reliance Communications, Google moved to block Facebook's entry. This was because Google wanted to maintain its dominance in India's advertising market, which has a population of 1.4 billion. Google flooded the internet space using India's elite groups with messages like, "If free Facebook is distributed in India, it will be the end of the world, the end of the internet, and the end of India." Dr. Layton explained, "Although the situation was entirely fabricated, Google's campaign achieved successful results," adding, "Mark Zuckerberg had to officially apologize, and Facebook was unable to enter the Indian market with a free business model."

Dr. Layton also introduced similar political activities by Google in the United States and Europe. In 2014, when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was conducting a public policy process on open internet policies, online activist groups such as "Save the Internet" submitted 4 million petitions requesting the strongest possible internet regulations, causing the process to fail. The following year, during the promotion of open internet regulatory policies in Europe, 500,000 comments were submitted from 28 countries. He said, "One-third of the 500,000 comments were sent by people who were not Europeans or did not reside in Europe," adding, "The mobilized people did not even know about the policy but were stimulated by the groups they supported to submit petitions."

Google, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Experts agree that YouTubers voicing opposition to the mandatory network usage fees in South Korea are part of the same context. According to research by Professor Lee Jong-myung of Kangwon National University, the total views of 25 YouTube videos on the topic of network usage fees by popular YouTubers such as Daedoseogwan, Kim Seong-hoe Knowledge Encyclopedia, and Sugar World reached 5,755,000. This means more than one-tenth of the population watched them. Professor Lee said, "The videos blur the line between 'logical organization' and 'emotional explanation,' and shift the judgment of the explanation to the 'subscribers,'" adding, "They are more emotionally immersive than objectively detached."

Dr. Layton criticized, "Google knows exactly how to generate political support for its purposes," adding, "These activities are not genuine grassroots movements but public opinion manipulation, which is unjust." He further said, "They appear genuine on the surface but are actually wolves in sheep's clothing."

He pointed out, "We have seen American tech companies harming end consumers to get what they want," and criticized, "Claiming 'we will reduce the amount paid to content creators' is exactly how Google wages its war." He continued, "Although 80% of internet traffic comes from content monopolized by American big tech companies and they earn huge advertising profits through large corporations, they try to pass the costs they should bear onto ISPs or consumers."

Dr. Layton said, "Google is recording record sales in the Korean market through advertising expenses paid by large corporations," adding, "Google's customers are not the end users but Korean companies that pay advertising fees, and if Google's costs increase, those costs will be borne not by the end consumers but by the advertisers, i.e., Korean companies."

Dr. Layton asserted, "Google now has more than enough money to pay network usage fees than ever before," and argued, "Since Google content accounts for a significant portion of global internet traffic, it should pay network usage fees."

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