[Anchor]

As we just saw, there are concerns that the criteria for misinformation remain unclear. Who will be responsible for judging posts and comments moving forward?

Also, what is the process when a report of misinformation is filed, and are there any issues with this procedure? Reporter Park Jaehyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The revised Information and Communications Network Act applies to businesses with at least 1 million daily users, including major platform companies such as Naver, Kakao, Google, Meta, and X.

These companies are required to establish self-regulatory policies regarding false and manipulated information. When a report is filed, they must evaluate the content and take measures such as deleting the post or restricting access to it.

Most portals and large online communities have updated their operational policies based on the guidelines for false and manipulated information set by the Korea Internet Self-Governance Organization (KISO).

When a report is filed, clearly false information, such as claims that "a war has broken out," is deleted according to internal standards.

The problem arises when information contains a mix of truth and falsehood.

If a platform finds it difficult to make a judgment on its own, it refers the reported content to the Special Committee on Deliberation of False and Manipulated Information at KISO.

[Kim Sung-deok/Policy Director, KISO: When a report of false or manipulated information is filed and it is difficult to make a judgment, they can request a review from us at KISO, and we will conduct the deliberation.]

The 12-member committee is required to begin reviewing the information within two weeks of receiving the report. They then make decisions ranging from deleting the information and blocking access to suspending user accounts or cutting off advertising revenue, which are then communicated to the platform operators.

If a decision is difficult to reach, platforms can request a fact-check from organizations like the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), similar to the case of Meta, which operates Facebook.

The government plans to operate a "Transparency Center" to support cooperation between platforms and private fact-checking organizations, such as the International Fact-Checking Network.

An industry official stated, "Unless it is a clear-cut case, platforms find it difficult to make judgments on their own and have no choice but to rely on deliberation committees," adding, "Trial and error is inevitable until enough operational cases are accumulated."

Furthermore, since there are no clear mandatory regulations for platforms, ensuring compliance by overseas businesses such as Google and YouTube remains a challenge to be addressed.

(Video reporting: Kim Han-gyeol | Video editing: Won Hyeong-hui | Design: Kim Ye-ji)