DRAPAC Series: South Korea’s Lessons for Threats to Southeast Asian Internet Freedom

In this episode of the DRAPAC Series, Kyung Sin ‘KS’ Park, a professor at the Korea University School of Law and the co-founder and director of digital rights advocacy organization Open Net Korea, discusses the threats to South Korea’s internet freedom and the impact of proposed policies like the ‘sender pay’ model on innovation and global net neutrality.

Date and Time: October 9, 3PM Bangkok time (UTC+7)

Description:

In South Korea, internet freedom and freedom of speech are under threat, with policies restricting people’s activities online. The government’s proposed “sender pay” model, in which content providers will be charged fees for making content available in addition to charges for being connected to the internet, would not only throttle innovation in Korea’s creative industries but would also erode net neutrality globally.

Meanwhile, administrative bodies in the country continue to block or censor content deemed a threat to social norms. Such non-judicial mandatory takedown will likely result in majoritarian censorship shutting down pluralism of various voices, which is an emerging threat in Southeast Asia.

As an introduction to the first topic, the “sender pay” model, we recommend you watch this explainer by our guest speaker on the topic.

There are many questions for us to consider:

1. How exactly does the proposed “sender pay” model threaten net neutrality globally?
2. What does administrative censorship look like in South Korea? How does it compare to other countries in the region?
3. What has been the public’s response to these government measures and proposals?
4. Where can Korean, regional, and international digital rights advocates best contribute to protect these internet freedoms in the country?

*DRAPAC Series: Building on the momentum and insightful conversations from the 2023 Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly, EngageMedia is convening the DRAPAC Series of events that aim to generate and sustain conversations about the challenges and opportunities for the region with regards to human and digital rights in the networked society. This series will invite DRAPAC23 partners and collaborators to delve deeper into the topics tackled during the Assembly and continue engaging the broader network of changemakers.

Korean version text