untrue statements about the candidates in an election; second, to maintain the prohibition against campaigning at any time other than the officially sanctioned two- to
three-week election period; third, to ensure that all message board users only make
comments during the election using their full, real names. All three tasks are usually
executed by requesting the Web site’s hosting service to delete or change offending
content, and if the hosting service refuses to delete it, the CCT will open an investigation and press charges. Monitoring is carried out by about 1,000 part-time workers,
who are hired nationwide 120 days before every election to run a search program to
find and flag suspicious content. 89
Violation of the law against advocating a candidate prior to the election period can
be punished with a fine of up to KRW 4 million or two years in prison. 90 Offending
acts include posting long opinions on Web portals and Web sites of political parties,
posting comments on online news articles, or any similar acts on personal Web sites
or blogs. 91 However, the NEC has stated that ‘‘there is small chance that citizens will
face legal charges for posting their opinion as they will be viewed flexibly in actual
crackdowns.’’ 92
The line between campaigning and normal discussion is extremely vague, and the
decision to censor is made at the discretion of the CCT’s officers. This vagueness has
had a chilling effect on online political discourse, especially at video-sharing sites,
whose election-related content has been reduced to little more than videos produced
by the campaigns themselves. 93 Between the 2004 and 2007 presidential elections,
the total number of deletion requests for early campaigning skyrocketed, from 2,425
to 76,277. Media have also reported that from June 2006 to May 2007, up to 19,000
online election-related messages were deleted, while legal punishment was pursued
against 13 messages containing false rumors about candidates. 94
Surveillance
The South Korean constitution guarantees that the privacy (Article 17) and the privacy
of correspondence (Article 18) of citizens shall not be violated. 95 While most scholars
believe that Article 17 forms the basis of a right to privacy, 96 the Supreme Court has
also held that together with Article 10, guaranteeing human dignity and the right to
pursue happiness, ‘‘these constitutional provisions not only guarantee the right to be
let alone, which protects personal activity from invasion by others and public exposure, but also an active right to self-control over his or her personal information in a
highly informatized modern society.’’ 97
Internet service providers are generally directed to gather the minimum amount of
information necessary and are restricted from disclosing personal information beyond
the scope of notification or from collecting certain personal information, such as
‘‘political ideology, religion, and medical records,’’ that would likely infringe the user’s
South Korea
511
three-week election period; third, to ensure that all message board users only make
comments during the election using their full, real names. All three tasks are usually
executed by requesting the Web site’s hosting service to delete or change offending
content, and if the hosting service refuses to delete it, the CCT will open an investigation and press charges. Monitoring is carried out by about 1,000 part-time workers,
who are hired nationwide 120 days before every election to run a search program to
find and flag suspicious content. 89
Violation of the law against advocating a candidate prior to the election period can
be punished with a fine of up to KRW 4 million or two years in prison. 90 Offending
acts include posting long opinions on Web portals and Web sites of political parties,
posting comments on online news articles, or any similar acts on personal Web sites
or blogs. 91 However, the NEC has stated that ‘‘there is small chance that citizens will
face legal charges for posting their opinion as they will be viewed flexibly in actual
crackdowns.’’ 92
The line between campaigning and normal discussion is extremely vague, and the
decision to censor is made at the discretion of the CCT’s officers. This vagueness has
had a chilling effect on online political discourse, especially at video-sharing sites,
whose election-related content has been reduced to little more than videos produced
by the campaigns themselves. 93 Between the 2004 and 2007 presidential elections,
the total number of deletion requests for early campaigning skyrocketed, from 2,425
to 76,277. Media have also reported that from June 2006 to May 2007, up to 19,000
online election-related messages were deleted, while legal punishment was pursued
against 13 messages containing false rumors about candidates. 94
Surveillance
The South Korean constitution guarantees that the privacy (Article 17) and the privacy
of correspondence (Article 18) of citizens shall not be violated. 95 While most scholars
believe that Article 17 forms the basis of a right to privacy, 96 the Supreme Court has
also held that together with Article 10, guaranteeing human dignity and the right to
pursue happiness, ‘‘these constitutional provisions not only guarantee the right to be
let alone, which protects personal activity from invasion by others and public exposure, but also an active right to self-control over his or her personal information in a
highly informatized modern society.’’ 97
Internet service providers are generally directed to gather the minimum amount of
information necessary and are restricted from disclosing personal information beyond
the scope of notification or from collecting certain personal information, such as
‘‘political ideology, religion, and medical records,’’ that would likely infringe the user’s
South Korea
511