Facebook Wins Final Victory in Lawsuit Over Fine for 'Reduced Connection Speed'

Facebook, which changed the access route of domestic users to reduce speed and was fined by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), ultimately won the appeal lawsuit.

Facebook. Photo by Pixabay

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Dong-won) on the 21st upheld the lower court's ruling in the final appeal trial of Facebook Ireland Limited's lawsuit against the KCC seeking cancellation of corrective orders and other dispositions.

In March 2018, the KCC imposed a fine of 396 million KRW on Facebook for arbitrarily changing the access routes with domestic telecom companies (SK Broadband and LG Uplus), causing reduced connection speeds. The KCC also ordered corrective measures and improvements in work procedures. In response, Facebook filed an administrative lawsuit in May of the same year demanding cancellation of the corrective orders and other dispositions against the KCC.

The first and second trials ruled in favor of Facebook. The second trial court stated, "The plaintiff's (Facebook's) change of access routes constitutes an act of restricting use, but it was not carried out in a manner that significantly harms the interests of telecommunications users," and added, "Even so, judging that the act was done for 100 when it was actually done for only 50 and imposing the disposition accordingly was an abuse and excess of discretion." The Supreme Court also deemed the lower court's judgment to be appropriate.

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