[Exclusive] National Election Commission Establishes 'Fake News' Response System Before Presidential Election

On the 16th, 50 days before the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections, officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission installed streetlight banners near City Hall to announce the election date and encourage voter participation. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The National Election Commission is launching a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis to strictly crack down on online election crimes such as the spread of fake news.

The Election Commission announced a bid on the 24th to build an "Intelligent Election Crime Response System," stating, "We will enhance the efficiency of information analysis on slander and black propaganda posts using social networking services (SNS), YouTube, etc., and strengthen measures against cyber election crimes." The construction period is 10 months and will be completed ahead of the presidential election in March next year.

This system collects problematic posts by utilizing AI and big data. It plans to select posts and videos with a high likelihood of violation through machine learning based on election laws. It will also analyze timelines and key keywords to examine groups of posters who repeatedly upload propaganda content, and conduct network analysis of relationships among individuals. The goal is to analyze the spread routes to verify whether there is organized activity.

The Election Commission explained, "Cases of exploiting political bias for profit generation are increasing, causing many problems in promoting fair elections," and added, "There is a growing need to prevent fake news and public opinion manipulation online that undermine election credibility."

Last April, ahead of the general election, the Election Commission identified and reported four individuals to the prosecution for spreading false information on YouTube claiming that voter and voting tendency information could be known through QR codes on early voting ballots. Additionally, two individuals who spread false information on YouTube that voting results could be manipulated by China or North Korea were also reported.