By coupling content judgments with civil, criminal and administrative penalties, law alters long-term speech governance

South Korea’s “Network Act” and the National Assembly | Images: Ministry of Government Legislation, Canva, edited by Korea Pro

South Korea’s newly enacted amendment to the Network Act embeds a durable judgment-and-liability framework that raises long-term governance risks for speech regardless of political intent or who holds power.

Passed amid broad concern over the social harms of disinformation, the law fixes a structure that links determinations of falsity to layered civil, criminal and administrative penalties, reshaping the country’s speech environment in ways that will persist across administrations.

South Korea’s newly enacted amendment to the Network Act embeds a durable judgment-and-liability framework that raises long-term governance risks for speech regardless of political intent or who holds power.

Passed amid broad concern over the social harms of disinformation, the law fixes a structure that links determinations of falsity to layered civil, criminal and administrative penalties, reshaping the country’s speech environment in ways that will persist across administrations.

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