US voices concerns over South Korea’s online content law revision

ANKARA

The US has expressed “significant concerns” over a recently approved South Korea’s online content law revision and warned that the move could harm US-based online platforms and undermine freedom of expression, South Korean media reported on Thursday.

A State Department spokesperson said the revision could impose unnecessary barriers on digital services and negatively affect the business environment for American technology companies, according to Yonhap News.

"The United States has significant concerns with the ROK (Republic of Korea) government's approval of an amendment to the Network Act that negatively impacts the business of US-based online platforms and undermines free expression," said the unnamed spokesperson.

The US reaction comes after South Korea’s Cabinet approved the promulgation of the amendment in the Information and Communications Network Act on Tuesday, following the National Assembly’s passage of the revision.

There has been no immediate response or reaction from Seoul to the US statement.

The new law aims to prevent the spread of illegal and fabricated information online that could incite violence or discrimination.

Earlier, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers warned that the law, while ostensibly targeting defamatory deepfakes, could go much further and threaten technology cooperation.

"Deepfakes are understandably concerning, but it’s better to give victims civil remedies than give regulators an invasive license for viewpoint-based censorship," Rogers wrote on US social media platform X on Tuesday.