South Korea’s Index of Freedom on The Net 2024 Drops, Reveals the Failure of Yoon Seokyeol Government Administration

South Korea should take steps to ensure internet freedom in line with international human rights standards

In October 2024, Freedom House released the “Freedom on the Net 2024” report, ranking South Korea as “Partly Free” for the second consecutive year, with its score dropping from 67 to 66 compared to the previous year. The non-profit organization Open Net responded by urging the South Korean government to address its shortcomings as a member of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), to which it joined in 2023. Open Net views the decline in South Korea’s Internet Freedom Index as evidence validating concerns raised in their earlier open letter.

The report highlights several issues that contributed to South Korea’s lower score, aligning with longstanding criticisms from Open Net. These include:

The report criticized the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) for extreme political bias. Key incidents cited include:
– President Yoon Suk-yeol’s controversial appointment of a chairman without parliamentary approval.
– Politically charged decisions, such as allowing the YTN acquisition by the Eugene Group.
– Whistleblower allegations against the KCSC chairman for unethical conduct.

The May 2024 Administrative Court ruling upholding the blocking of the “WeMinOnWeb” site was also noted as a contributing factor.

Excessive internet fees imposed on content providers and fines targeting media outlets were cited as damaging to internet freedom. Examples include:
– Fines totaling ₩120 million were imposed on broadcasters like MBC and KBS.
– The closure of SNU FactCheck Center due to financial pressure.
– Twitch’s exit from the South Korean market in December 2023.

The report highlighted the impact of laws like the National Security Act, Election Law, and defamation statutes, which do not meet international human rights standards.

Multiple defamation lawsuits by the government against journalists and media outlets were detailed, including:
– Lawsuits targeting Seoul’s Voice and investigations into government critics like Newstapa and JTBC.
– Convictions for defamation, including the case against the founder of the “Bad Fathers” site.

Open Net has actively fought against such measures through lawsuits and legislative advocacy, condemning the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s actions as anti-democratic. Open Net call for the government to uphold the dignity and standards befitting an “internet powerhouse.

Korean version text