총 36페이지

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EyeofTheArgus
FreedomofExpression
By KimMin-ji
PlanningDirector
I
nternet search leader Google decided to shut off comments and video uploads on its YouTube Korea website, a video
sharing site, in protest against a new law by the South Korean government. According to the new legislation, Korean
Internetusersmustentertheirresidentregistrationnumbersandnamesbeforepostingitemsorcommentswhentheyusethe
YouTube Korea, which has over 100,000 visitors a day. The Google bypassed the regulation by limiting the features on its
Koreanwebsite,whichgotthegovernmenttodisgraceitselfinpublicoverthislaw.
The reason for the brisk debate over the Google’s restriction lies in its representation. The website, YouTube, run by the
Google,hasrecentlybeenregardedbymanyasaninformalyardstickoffreedomofexpression,aswellasaremarkablevideo
website.SeveralcountriesblockedaccesstotheYouTubebecausesomeofthepostedfeatureswereagainstthegovernment,and
thisshowsclearevidenceofusers’accesstothewebsiteforfreeandopenspeech.Itmarksthefirsttimethatthecompanyhas
requiredvisitorstoentersuchinformation.
Thecompanystatesthatitwillrespectthelocallaw,butatthesametime,hascontinuedtryingtopromotefreedomofspeech
ontheInternet.Itsdecisiontogetaroundthenewlawexplainstheimportanceoffreedomofspeech.TheGooglesaidthatitis
importantforfreeexpressionandthatpeoplehavetherighttoremainanonymousiftheychoose.
TheInternetistheonlinespacewherepeoplearefreetopost,comment,andsharetheiropinionsonanytopic.Consideringits
concept,itisnaturalforanyonetomonitorandcriticizethegovernment’spolicyandperformancewithoutinterruptiononline,
especiallyinamodernsociety.ItisoneoftheInternet’smaingoalsandroles.
However,inKorea,mostoftheprominentwebsitesrequiretheuserstofillintheirnamesandresidentregistrationnumbers
when they register on websites. The government made it a rule to check their information online a few years ago in order to
prevent reckless cyber violations and defamation when some users take advantage of anonymity. There has no yet been,
however,apositiveevaluationabouttheperformanceofthelawsofar.
Instead,ithaslimitedfreedomofexpressionwhichguaranteesnotonlytheConstitution,butalsotheglobalstandards.Infact,
KoreaistheonlynationwhoselawdemandsthatuserssubmittheirprivateinformationincommentingonissuesontheInternet.
Underthesecircumstances,theusersmustbecarefulaboutwritingtheiropinionsfreely,especiallypoliticalopinions,fornoone
knowswhetherthecommentsarecheckedbythegovernment.
Actually, many online users who expressed the comments against the government were found and got punished for the
candlelightvigillastyear,despitetheirrightstoonlineactivities.Moreover,Minerva,afamousonlinewriter,wasarrestedforhis
controversialcommentsagainstthegovernmentandexpectationsoftheKoreaeconomy,whichtheLeegovernmentjudgedtobe
abadeffectonsociety.Thesuppressiononlymakestheonlineusersfeelobstructedandlosetrusttowardthenation.Whatan
absurdsituationitisthatsomethingpostedontheInternethassuchabiginfluenceonthesociety!
AftertheGoogle’sdecision,somepeoplechoosetofleefromtheInternetinKoreatoexercisetheirfreedomofexpression.If
thisatmosphereexpandsmoreandmore,substantialcompetitivenessoftheITindustryinKoreamightbeweakenedinthelong
run.
Itisessentialthateveryoneisabletoexpressherorhisideasfreely,andthatallopinionsshouldberespected.Today,many
speakaboutfreedom,andmostofthecountriesrecognizethevalueoffreedom,particularfreedomofspeech.Also,diverseideas
arethedrivingforceofthesociety.Moreimportant,thisissomethingthatKoreansintimespasthavestoodupfor,foughtfor,
and even died for. For the rights of citizens and the improvement of the society, freedom of expression must be regained in
Korea.
kmj07@hufs.ac.kr
www.theargus.org

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