Launch of National Integration Committee Media Special Task Force... "Portals Need Responsibility Matching Their Status"

Infinite Traffic Competition Induced, False and Unverified Information Spreading Rapidly... "Policy Alternatives to Be Announced in July"

The Presidential Commission on National Integration has decided to formulate policies to prevent the spread of false and manipulated information on portals such as Naver and Daum, as well as on YouTube.

On the 17th, the Commission held the launch ceremony of the 'Special Committee on National Integration and Media' (hereinafter referred to as the Special Committee) at the Government Seoul Office and announced plans to establish policies to strengthen the social responsibility of portals that distribute and supply news. The Special Committee is chaired by Choi Myung-gil, Distinguished Professor at Konkuk University. Along with Professor Choi, 13 experts from the media and legal fields, including Yang Seung-mok, Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University, Kim Chang-gi, Chairman of the Korean Political Commentary Association, and Hong Se-wook from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, were appointed.

Kim Han-gil, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on National Integration.
[Photo by the Presidential Office]

On this day, the Special Committee selected as priority tasks the social responsibility of portals that dominate news distribution, as well as the accountability issues of emerging media such as YouTubers, SNS news, and OTT journalism. The Commission plans to sequentially address other agendas aimed at improving the media environment.

The Commission stated, "The news distribution environment centered on major news portals induces endless traffic competition and rapidly spreads false and unverified information," pointing out tangible and intangible damages such as democratic decision-making obstacles and human rights violations. Accordingly, the Special Committee judged that establishing a healthy relationship between news portals and media outlets is a crucial prerequisite for improving the media environment and plans to strive for greater transparency in various algorithms applied to news portal article arrangement, advertisement allocation, and partnership screening.

They also decided to seek prompt and effective remedies for damages. This means addressing issues such as human rights violations and property losses caused by false and manipulated information in news form. During the discussion process, they plan to closely communicate with news producers and distributors, related organizations, and reflect opinions to announce policy alternatives in July.

Chairman Choi Myung-gil said, "If portals have risen in status by providing platforms where anyone can easily access news, they must bear corresponding responsibilities for news distribution to normalize." Kim Han-gil, Chairman of the National Integration Commission, also stated, "The basic recognition of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is that the media is one of the four pillars supporting democracy alongside the legislative, judicial, and executive branches," adding, "We hope the Special Committee will discover various alternatives to restore the positive functions of the media for the integration of our society and healthy democracy."

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