[National Audit 2022] Han Sang-hyeok "Twitch Lowering Video Quality, Reviewing User Damage and Prohibited Acts"

Hansanghyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, is responding to questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee's audit held on the 6th in Yeouido, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Han Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, stated on the 6th at the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee’s audit that they are "reviewing whether user damage has occurred and whether it constitutes a prohibited act" in relation to Twitch's video quality reduction measures.

On the same day, in response to a question from Jang Kyung-tae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding plans for corrective orders, Chairman Han said, "YouTube will be considered for review later (if applicable)."

Twitch announced on the 29th of last month that it would lower the original video quality from a maximum of 1080p to 720p due to increased costs such as network fees, and began implementing this from the 30th. During this process, complaints from users to telecommunications companies surged.

Although Twitch did not specifically mention the reasons for the cost increase, this move is interpreted as being mindful of the ongoing legislative discussions on network usage fees in the National Assembly. In a blog notice, Twitch explained, "The cost of operating services in Korea has continuously increased and is expected to continue to do so," adding, "Therefore, new solutions are needed to maintain service operations within Korea."

Meanwhile, the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) issued a statement on its website the previous day expressing regret over Twitch’s unilateral video quality reduction measures. KTOA pointed out, "Recently, due to your company (Twitch)’s video quality reduction measures, related complaints have been received at telecommunications companies’ customer centers," and emphasized, "In particular, after unilaterally announcing the quality reduction on your company’s website blog without sufficient prior explanation and implementing the measure, a significant number of complaints have been filed to telecommunications companies, as your users are also users of the telecommunications companies."