[AKYUNG Poll] Amendment to the Act on the Regulation of the Press: 'Fake News Prevention' 46.4% VS 'Press Oppression' 41.6%

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] Regarding the amendment to the "Act on the Mediation and Relief of Damage in the Press" (Press Mediation Act), 46% of the public perceived it as "to prevent damage caused by fake news."

In response to the question, "On the 19th, the amendment to the Press Mediation Act, which applies punitive damages up to five times for false or manipulated reports due to intentional or gross negligence by media companies, passed the National Assembly standing committee. What do you think about this?" 46.4% of respondents said, "It is to prevent damage caused by fake news," while 41.6% answered, "It is a means to suppress the press." The difference was 4.8 percentage points, within the margin of error. Those who answered "I don't know" accounted for 12%.

Agreement that the amendment is to prevent damage caused by fake news was mainly seen among people in their 30s and 40s. 56.4% of those in their 30s and 61.7% of those in their 40s agreed. Additionally, a high approval rate was observed in Gwangju and Jeolla (60.5%), and 82.5% of supporters of the Democratic Party of Korea shared this opinion.

On the other hand, those who viewed it as a means to suppress the press were relatively higher among people in their 60s (52.8%) and those aged 70 and above (55.2%). In Daegu and Gyeongbuk, 54.9% responded this way, and 81.5% of supporters of the People Power Party held this view.

This survey was conducted by Asia Economy through Win-G Korea Consulting from the 21st to 22nd, targeting voters aged 18 and over nationwide. A total of 1,024 people responded, with an overall response rate of 7.0%. The survey method was 100% mobile ARS using virtual phone numbers. The sample was extracted with weighted values by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population as of the end of January 2021 from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (cell weighting). The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. For detailed survey information, please refer to the Win-G Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.