KCC Promotes Establishment of 5 Major Policy Measures to Protect Service Providers
Enactment of Voluntary Regulation Guidelines
Consideration of Future Amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] "I can't live because of review and rating terrorism." The number of self-employed people suffering from so-called 'gapjil customers' who abuse reviews and ratings, which are important indicators of delivery and accommodation apps, has increased. Recently, a user who ordered food through delivery platform A excessively requested a refund from the restaurant owner, left a 1-star rating and harsh review, and the delivery platform also unilaterally demanded a refund and apology from the restaurant owner, resulting in the restaurant owner dying from a cerebral hemorrhage.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) announced on the 11th that it plans to establish and promote five policy measures to protect users such as online platform service providers who are blind spots for malicious reviews and rating terrorism.
This is because some users frequently make unreasonable demands such as refunds and material compensation by giving malicious reviews and ratings to online platform service providers based on distorted facts. In particular, most online platform service providers are small and medium-sized businesses that find it difficult to systematically respond to reviews and ratings, suffering damage from malicious reviews or rating terrorism.
Legislative improvements including guidelines for improving the review and rating system
First, the KCC will prepare the 'Platform Service Review and Rating System Improvement Guidelines' so that both businesses using online platforms and end users can use the review and rating system fairly and transparently. Initially, the guidelines will be prepared to encourage businesses to voluntarily comply, but in the long term, the KCC will also consider revising the prohibited acts provisions under the Telecommunications Business Act.
Online platform operators to consider guidelines for awarding or deducting points
The KCC has expanded the evaluation targets this year to include nine value-added telecommunications service providers such as Coupang, Naver Shopping, Baedal Minjok, Netflix, Afreeca TV, and Wavve. In addition, considering the characteristics of each service sector, the evaluation indicators and manuals will be improved to encourage the operation of systems such as reviews and ratings to contribute to enhancing user rights. In particular, when evaluating user protection tasks, the KCC will consider awarding or deducting points based on online platform operators' compliance with the guidelines.
Promotion of one-stop damage relief
The KCC plans to promote consultation and advisory support including administrative, judicial, and private sectors. This is because various and complex platform service damage relief requires systems and policies from multiple fields. In particular, if the damage case occurred during the use of platform services, the KCC will accept it regardless of jurisdiction and either respond directly or promptly connect it to the relevant agencies or organizations.
To this end, the KCC will review the scope of related organizations and proceed with consultations on establishing a prior hotline and joint response. For repeatedly occurring damage cases, the KCC plans to provide 'AI-based chatbot consultation' after analysis, and accumulated consultation cases will be used for publishing the 'Internet Damage Handbook' and discovering future system improvement measures.
Amendment of the 'Information and Communications Network Act' for damage prevention
To protect online platform service providers from rating terrorism and malicious reviews and to prevent economic damage caused by exaggerated or deceptive information, an amendment to the 'Information and Communications Network Act' will be prepared. The amendment targets large-scale online platform operators above a certain size and stipulates that when distributed information meets certain conditions such as being clearly exaggerated or deceptive and causing irreparable damage, necessary measures must be taken to prevent the distribution of such information. Detailed measures will be specified after collecting stakeholders' opinions.
Establishing regulations to protect platform service providers and users
Meanwhile, the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee is promoting legislation of the 'Online Platform User Protection Act,' which aims to promote fair competition in the online industry and protect users in line with the changing ICT environment such as the expanding influence of online platforms. If the bill passes, the government can recommend specifying concrete rights and obligations related to transactions between platform operators and service providers, and a 'Platform Dispute Mediation Committee' will be established to resolve disputes among platform operators, service providers, and end users quickly and efficiently. Acts by platform operators that impose unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or restrictions on service providers will also be prohibited. The KCC plans to support prompt legislation.
Chairman Han Sang-hyuk emphasized, "Many parts of daily life are conducted within platforms, so related damages are rapidly increasing," and added, "The KCC will do its best to provide immediate user damage relief by utilizing all possible policy measures within the current legal framework." He continued, "Regarding this case of malicious reviews and rating terrorism, we expect that comprehensive measures will be prepared from policies that can be implemented quickly to long-term institutional improvements so that the positive functions of the review and rating system are strengthened and side effects minimized in the future."
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