Prof. Hwang Yong-seok and Constitutional Court Decision on SBS 'Unanswered Questions' Win Cheol-woo Press Law Award

The Korean Society for Media Law and Ethics has selected a paper by Konkuk University Department of Media and Communication Professor Hwang Yong-seok and the Constitutional Court's decision on the "SBS 'Unanswered Questions' Child Abuse Victim Broadcast Case" as the winners of the 25th Cheol-woo Press Law Award.

The Korean Society for Media Law and Ethics (President Choi Woo-jeong) held the Cheol-woo Press Law Award Ceremony and Commemorative Seminar on the 19th floor press conference room of the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, where the awards ceremony took place.

Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Cheol-woo Press Law Award annually selects and honors outstanding papers and books that have contributed to media law research and the advancement of freedom of expression, as well as precedents that have established new legal standards.

Selected as the winner in the paper and book category, the paper titled "A Critical Analysis of the Adjudication Structure of Regulations on False and Manipulated Information in the Digital Platform Environment," written by Konkuk University Department of Media and Communication Professor Hwang Yong-seok, was published in the journal Journal of Media and Law in April. The Cheol-woo Press Law Award Review Committee (Chairperson Lee Jae-jin) evaluated the paper as having high research completeness and policy contribution, noting that it not only systematically analyzes the conceptual and structural issues surrounding the regulation of false and manipulated information but also presents concrete policy alternatives.

In the precedent category, the Constitutional Court's decision (2023Heon-Ma-1114) delivered on December 23 of last year regarding the "SBS 'Unanswered Questions' Child Abuse Victim Broadcast Case" was selected.

Regarding the 2021 broadcast by the production team of SBS's Unanswered Questions which showed the face and personal information of a child victim who died from abuse, the prosecution judged it a violation of the Child Abuse Punishment Act and issued a suspension of indictment. However, the Constitutional Court acknowledged the unconstitutionality of the disposition and revoked it.

Regarding this decision, the Cheol-woo Press Law Award Review Committee evaluated it as significant for presenting judgment criteria that do not uniformly weigh the protection of the victim's personality rights against the public interest reporting function of the media, but instead comprehensively consider specific circumstances such as whether the victim survived, the purpose and method of the report, and the content of the disclosed information.

Following the awards ceremony, the Cheol-woo Press Law Award Commemorative Academic Seminar on "The Utilization of AI-Generated Expressions and Legal and Ethical Issues," moderated by Dankook University Professor Chang Chul-jun, featured two presentations: MBC Producer Choi Min-geun gave the first presentation under the theme "New Content Production Methods of Humans and AI Created by AX," followed by a second presentation by Dr. Hwang Hyun-jung of the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) under the theme "Audiovisual Media in the Generative AI Era: Changes in the Content Ecosystem and Policy Tasks."

Amid a rapidly changing media environment driven by the spread of digital platforms and generative AI, the Korean Society for Media Law and Ethics plans to continuously research major tasks in the field of media law, including freedom of expression, the protection of personality rights, the public interest role of the media, and the responsibilities of platforms and AI, while continuing academic discussions.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.