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The Korea Communications Commission is preparing a comprehensive plan to prevent the rapid spread of false information in the online environment. The abolition of the Device Distribution Act will proceed as planned. In response to the rapidly changing media environment, legislation for an 'Integrated Media Act' that encompasses both new and old media will also be promoted.

Kim Hong-il, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 21st, the KCC announced this year's work plan at the Government Complex Gwacheon. Under the vision of becoming a 'trusted and innovative global media powerhouse,' it will focus on three core tasks. The three key tasks are ▲ Establishing a foundation for innovative growth ▲ Redefining media publicness ▲ Realizing a digital inclusive society.

First, the media regulatory system, which has been dispersed across individual laws, will be reorganized to encompass both new and old media and support the growth of the media industry by promoting legislation for the Integrated Media Act. This is to reorganize the media regulatory system that has been dispersed under the Broadcasting Act, IPTV Act, Telecommunications Business Act, and others.

Through the Integrated Media Act, an institutional foundation will be established that applies the principle of identical regulation for identical services, and a fair competition environment among operators is expected to be created. To resolve regulatory imbalances between broadcasters and online video services (OTT), improvement plans for broadcaster ownership and cross-ownership regulations, as well as programming and advertising regulations, will be prepared.

A normative system to protect users from new digital services will also be established. To this end, the enactment of the 'Act on the Protection of Users of Artificial Intelligence Services (tentative name)' will be pursued.

When posting AI-generated content, it will be mandatory to indicate that the content is AI-generated, and a dedicated reporting window for AI-related damage relief will be established.

Additionally, institutional improvements will be made to assign public responsibility to portal sites such as Naver and Daum, which act as news intermediaries. Each portal company will form a news partnership evaluation body, disclose evaluation criteria and results, and provide opportunities for re-evaluation to those who fail the screening.

A comprehensive plan to eradicate false and manipulated information will also be prepared. The plan includes ▲ defining false and manipulated information ▲ measures for each stage of creation and distribution ▲ strengthening responsibilities such as self-regulation by portals and platforms ▲ prohibiting opinion manipulation acts such as macro misuse.

To prevent the spread of false and manipulated information and minimize its harm, a fact-checking result sharing platform composed of domestic and international experts will be operated.

The Device Distribution Act will be abolished as planned. However, there will be focused inspections to ensure that mobile carriers do not induce consumers to subscribe to expensive plans or engage in false, exaggerated, or deceptive advertising. Actions such as including credit card partnership discounts or selective contract benefits in the device price to make it appear cheaper will also be cracked down on.

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