[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] As the political sphere begins discussing the 'Real-time Search Manipulation Prohibition Act' ahead of the April general elections, internet companies continue to express their opposition.
According to the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee on the 26th, the ruling and opposition parties have tentatively agreed on the 'Amendment to the Information and Communications Network Act.' The bill is said to have reached a certain level of consensus between the parties and is likely to pass when the February extraordinary session convenes.
The amendment prohibits the use of macro (automatic repetition) programs for improper purposes and bans manipulation of information and communication services using others' personal information. Additionally, service providers must take technical and managerial measures to prevent manipulation of their services by users. For these reasons, it is referred to as the 'Real-time Search Manipulation Prohibition Act' or 'Macro Ban Act.'
Concerns have been raised in academia about the weakening competitiveness of domestic companies. Professor Lee Sang-woo of Yonsei University Graduate School of Information stated, "Yahoo Japan and Baidu in China provide real-time search services. If such bills are enacted, the number of online services in our country is likely to decrease." He also pointed out issues of reverse discrimination, saying, "The bill is too broad, which may lead to shutting down service lines."
There are also worries that the amendment could infringe on freedom of expression online. The Korea Startup Forum and the Venture Business Association pointed out on the 19th, "If this legislation is realized, information and communication service providers will be obligated to extensively monitor information generated on their websites." They added, "Service providers will have to invest significant manpower and resources in monitoring, and there is a clear risk of censorship and political bias controversies during the process of addressing 'fake news.'"
Meanwhile, domestic portals such as Naver and Daum are preparing to revamp their real-time search services. This has been interpreted as an intention to avoid political controversies ahead of the general elections.
Naver has expanded the application categories of 'Riyo,' an AI-based search term recommendation system. Riyo analyzes the correlation between rapidly rising search terms and user-set topic categories. Then, exposure on the real-time search chart is determined according to individual user settings.
Daum has announced the termination of its real-time search term service in February. Kakao co-CEO Yeo Min-soo stated, "Recently, real-time issue search terms have become the starting point of phenomena rather than reflecting results." He added, "Since real-time issue search terms are being used contrary to their original purpose and do not align with Kakao's philosophy, we will terminate the service and prepare a new service that can preserve its original intent and positive functions."
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